Systems and methods for adjusting subtitles size on a first device and causing simultaneous display of the subtitles on a second device

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided herein for adapting, when multiple users are consuming a media asset on a primary device, the size of subtitles presented on the primary device upon determining that a user located closer to the primary device (i.e., first user) than a user farthest from the primary device (i.e., second user) is discontent with the size of the subtitles. The media guidance application may determine that there is a secondary device, associated with and in the vicinity of the second user, that is suitable for displaying subtitles. The media guidance application may, upon determining that the second user is currently not using the secondary device, present subtitles for the second user on the secondary device. The media guidance application may then adjust the size of the subtitles presented with the media asset on the primary device to a size more suited for the first user.

BACKGROUND

In currently available media systems, the size of subtitles presentedwith a media asset may be adjusted based on a distance of a user from adevice that the media asset is being consumed on. When multiple users,located at different distances from a device on which a media asset isbeing presented, are collectively consuming the media asset, the size ofthe subtitles may be based on the distance of the user farthest from thedevice. As a result, the size of the subtitles presented with the mediaasset may be larger than what it would have been if it were based on adistance of a user closer to the device. The larger subtitle size may bedisruptive to the media consumption experience of a user whose positionis closer to the device. However, current systems, when determiningsubtitle size for multiple users, do not take into account the impact ofsubtitle size on the user media consumption experience of a user whendetermining the subtitle size. Thus, current systems are not suited foradapting subtitle size for optimal user experience when multiple usersat different distances from a device are collectively consuming a mediaasset presented on the device.

SUMMARY

Therefore, systems and methods are disclosed herein for adapting, whenmultiple users are collectively consuming a media asset on a primarydevice, the size of subtitles presented on the primary device inresponse to determining that a user located closer to the primary device(i.e., first user) than a user farthest from the primary device (i.e.,second user) is discontent with the size of the subtitles. A mediaguidance application may determine size of subtitles to be presentedwith the media asset based on distance of the second user. The mediaguidance application may determine that the first user is discontentwith the size of the subtitles. In response, the media guidanceapplication may determine whether there is a secondary device,associated with and in the vicinity of the second user, that is suitablefor displaying subtitles. If there is such a secondary device, the mediaguidance application may determine whether the second user is currentlyusing the secondary device. The media guidance application, upondetermining that the second user is not using the secondary device, maypresent subtitles to the second user on the secondary device. The mediaguidance application may then adjust the size of the subtitles presentedwith the media asset on the primary device to a size more suited for thefirst user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may detect, using afirst sensor device, a first user and a second user within a viewingarea associated with a first user equipment device. A viewing area maybe some pre-defined area in front of the first user equipment such thatanyone within the pre-defined area can comfortably read subtitlespresented in a specific size. For example, the viewing area may bedefined based on a viewing axis that is perpendicular to the displayscreen of the first user equipment device. As a matter of example, anypoint that is within a forty-five degree angle to the viewing axis andwithin ten feet from the display screen of the first user equipmentdevice may be included in the viewing area. For example, the mediaguidance application may detect, using a camera, that the first user andthe second user are at locations that are within a forty-five degreeangle to the viewing axis and within ten feet from the display screen ofa television.

The media guidance application may determine, based on data receivedfrom the first sensor device, a first distance of the first user fromthe first user equipment device and a second distance of the second userfrom the first user equipment device, where the first distance isshorter than the second distance. The media guidance application maydetermine, based on user location data received from the camera, thatthe first user is at a distance of two feet from the television and thesecond user is at a distance of seven feet from the television. Themedia guidance application may access a subtitle adjustment datastructure, that includes a first field corresponding to a given userdistance from a given user equipment device and a second fieldcorresponding to an optimal subtitle size for the given user distance,to determine a first size for subtitles to be displayed with a mediaasset currently being displayed on the first user equipment device. Forexample, media guidance application may access a subtitle adjustmentdata structure to determine an entry that is associated with a firstfield value of seven feet. The media guidance application may retrievethe value corresponding to the second field of the entry to determinethe optimal subtitle size for a distance of seven feet. For example, themedia guidance application may determine that the optimal subtitle sizefor a distance of seven feet is two hundred points.

The media guidance application may generate for display, on the firstuser equipment device, the subtitles in the first size. For example, themedia guidance application may generate subtitles with a size of twohundred points on the television. The media guidance application maydetermine that the first user is discontent with the first size. Forexample, the media guidance application may monitor indicators ofresponse to an event to determine the response of the first user to thefirst size. Indicators of response to an event can be, but are notlimited to, actions associated with the event (e.g., trying to decreasesubtitle size, making the display window bigger and other suitableactions), user's activity during the event (e.g., user's social mediaactivity, user's movements, and other suitable activity) and user'sphysiological and emotional responses (e.g., user's heart rate, facialexpressions and other responses). The media guidance application mayaccess a variety of monitoring devices (e.g., image and video capturedevices, motion, physiological, and neurological sensors and othersuitable monitoring devices) to monitor for the indicators of response.For example, media guidance application may determine, based on dataretrieved from a camera and facial recognition techniques, that thefacial expression of the first user following the presentation of thesubtitles is a frown.

The media guidance application may access a data structure (e.g., alook-up table) to determine a response that corresponds to a givenindicator of response. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine that a frown corresponds to an expression of discontent. Themedia guidance application may then determine that the first user isdiscontent with the subtitle size of two hundred points. The mediaguidance application may, in response to determining that the first useris discontent with the first size, access a user profile associated withthe second user to determine a second user equipment device associatedwith the second user that is within the viewing area. For example, themedia guidance application may access the second user's user profile todetermine an identifier of a user equipment device associated with thesecond user. The media guidance application may then use a variety oflocation detection techniques (e.g., triangulation, scene analysis,proximity) to determine a current location of the user equipment deviceassociated with the second user.

As a specific example, the media guidance application may instruct aBluetooth low energy beacon to broadcast a signal over a given radius. Agiven user equipment device in the given radius may receive the signalat some signal strength and relay information about the received signalstrength to the media guidance application. The media guidanceapplication may determine, based on the signal strength received by thegiven user equipment device and data regarding impact of distance onsignal strength attenuation, a current location of the given userequipment device. The media guidance application may then compare thecurrent location of the given user equipment device with locationsincluded in the viewing area to determine whether the given userequipment device is in the viewing area. The media guidance applicationmay compare an identifier associated with the given user equipmentdevice with identifiers of user equipment devices associated with thesecond user to determine whether the given user equipment device isassociated with the second user. In some embodiments, the media guidanceapplication may determine that the given user equipment device isassociated with the second user and located within the viewing area. Forexample, the media guidance application may determine that a smart-phoneis associated with the second user and located within the viewing areaassociated with the television.

The media guidance application may determine, based on usage data of thesecond user equipment device, a current engagement level of the seconduser in the second user equipment device. For example, the mediaguidance application may access a data structure associated with thesecond user equipment device (e.g., usage metrics data structure) toretrieve usage data of the second user equipment device. The usagemetrics data structure may contain information such as, but not limitedto, number of applications running on the second user equipment device,type of applications running on the second user equipment device, numberof user input received at the second user equipment device during agiven period of time, processor activity of the second user equipmentdevice and other suitable information. Engagement level in a userequipment device, as used herein, is defined to mean a qualitative orquantitative indicator of how much a user is utilizing the userequipment device. For example, the engagement level may be a numericalvalue (e.g., five) on a pre-defined scale (e.g., a scale ranging fromzero to ten where zero corresponds to no engagement and ten correspondsto maximum engagement). As a matter of example, the media guidanceapplication may determine, based on the retrieved usage data of thesmart-phone, that no application is running on the smart-phone. Themedia guidance application may access a look-up table to determine thatthe engagement level that corresponds to no application running on thesmart-phone is zero.

The media guidance application may determine, based on the currentengagement level of the second user being lower than a thresholdengagement level, that the second user is not engaged in the second userequipment device. For example, the threshold engagement level may befive and the media guidance application may determine that the currentengagement level of zero in the smart-phone is less than the thresholdengagement level. The media guidance application may, in response todetermining that the user is not engaged in the second user equipmentdevice, transmit the subtitles to the second user equipment device. Forexample, the media guidance application may transmit the subtitles forthe media asset currently being presented on the television to thesmartphone. The media guidance application may determine, based onaccessing the subtitle adjustment data structure, a second size forsubtitles to be displayed with the media asset currently being displayedon the first user equipment device. As an illustrative example, themedia guidance application may access the subtitle adjustment datastructure and determine that a subtitle size of one hundred pointscorresponds to a distance of two feet. The media guidance applicationmay generate for display, on the first user equipment device, thesubtitles in the second size. For example, the media guidanceapplication may generate subtitles with a size of one hundred points onthe television.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may, upondetermining that the second user is using the secondary device, changethe language of the audio track of the media asset to a language thatthe second user is more familiar with so that the second user is lessreliant on the subtitles. The media guidance application may thendecrease the size of the subtitles presented with the media asset on theprimary device. In some embodiments, the audio track associated with themedia asset currently being displayed on the first user equipment devicemay be in a first language and the subtitles may be in a secondlanguage. For example, the audio track associated with the media assetcurrently being displayed on the television may be in Spanish and thesubtitles may be in English. The media guidance application may, inresponse to determining that the user is engaged in the second userequipment device, access the user profile associated with the seconduser to determine a preferred language associated with the second user.As a matter of example, the second user may be actively using the webbrowsing application on the smartphone and this may be reflected in theusage metrics data structure associated with the smart-phone. The mediaguidance application may determine, in manners described previously inrelation to determining an engagement level in a user equipment device,that the second user is engaged in the smart-phone. In response, themedia guidance application may access the second user's user profile toretrieve the second user's preferred language.

The media guidance application may determine that the preferred languageassociated with the second user is a third language, where the thirdlanguage is not the first language. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine that the second user's preferred language isFrench. The media guidance application may use a Boolean comparisonfunction to determine whether the first language and the third languageare the same. The media guidance application may determine (e.g., basedon receiving a “false” result from the Boolean comparison function) thatthe first language and the third language are different. The mediaguidance application may, in response to determining that the preferredlanguage associated with the second user is the third language,determine whether there exists an alternative audio track that isassociated with the media asset and is in the third language. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may extract, using metadataextraction tools, information about audio tracks associated with a mediaasset from metadata associated with the media asset. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may query, using databasemanagement languages such as SQL, JAPQL, CODASYL or another suitablelanguage, a content listing database for a specific audio track that isassociated with the media asset. As a matter of example, the mediaguidance application may query a content listing database for a Frenchaudio track associated with the media asset currently being presented onthe television.

The media guidance application may, in response to determining that analternative audio track that is associated with the media asset and inthe third language exists, retrieve the alternative audio track. Forexample, the media guidance application may receive a positive result tothe query for a French audio track associated with the media assetcurrently being presented on the television. The result may include aunique or specific identifier associated with the French audio track ora pointer or link to the French audio track, which the media guidanceapplication may use to retrieve the French audio track. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may receive the French audiotrack itself in response to the query. The media guidance applicationmay substitute the audio track associated with the media asset with thealternative audio track in the third language. The media guidanceapplication may substitute the Spanish audio track of the media assetcurrently being presented on the television with the French audio track.The media guidance application may generate for simultaneous displaywith the media asset, on the first user equipment device, the subtitlesin the second language and in the second size. For example, the mediaguidance application may display on the television, simultaneously withthe media asset, the English subtitles in a size of one hundred points.

In some embodiments, the language of the subtitles may the same as thelanguage of the original audio track. Specifically, the second languagemay be the same as the first language. For example, the originalsoundtrack and the subtitles may both be in Spanish. In someembodiments, the language of the subtitles may be the same as thelanguage that the second user is more familiar with. Specifically, thesecond language may be the same as the third language. For example, thesecond user's preferred language may be French and the language ofsubtitles may also be French. In some embodiments, the language of thesubtitles may be different from both the language of the original audiotrack and the language that the second user is more familiar with.Specifically, the second language may be different from both the firstlanguage and the third language. Following from the previous example,the original audio track may be in Spanish, the second user's preferredlanguage may be French and the subtitles may be in English.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may, when displayingsubtitles on the primary device, determine that both the first user andthe second user prefer the same font and present the subtitles in thatfont. Specifically, the media guidance application may, when generatingfor display the subtitles in the first size on the first user equipmentdevice, determine, based on accessing a user profile associated with thefirst user, a first font preferred by the first user. For example, themedia guidance application may access a user preferences data structureassociated with the first user's user profile and retrieve the firstuser's preferred font. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine that the first user's preferred font is “Courier New.” Themedia guidance application may determine, based on accessing the userprofile associated with the second user, a second font preferred by thesecond user. For example, the media guidance application may access auser preferences data structure associated with the second user's userprofile and retrieve the second user's preferred font. For example, themedia guidance application may determine that the second user'spreferred font is “Courier New.” The media guidance application maycompare the first font with the second font to determine whether thefirst font is the same as the second font. For example, the mediaguidance application may use a Boolean comparison function to determinewhether a unique identifier of the first font matches a uniqueidentifier of the second font. The media guidance application may, inresponse to determining that the first font is the same as the secondfont, generate for display the subtitles in the first size and in thefirst font. For example, the media guidance application may determinethat the first font is the same as the second font upon receiving a“true” result from the Boolean comparison function. The media guidanceapplication may then display the subtitles on the television with a sizeof two hundred points and in the “Courier New” font.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may, when displayingsubtitles on the primary device, determine that the first user and thesecond user prefer different fonts. In such instances, the mediaguidance application may display the subtitles in another font that issimilar to the fonts that the first user and the second user prefer.Specifically, in response to determining that the first font is not thesame as the second font, the media guidance application may access afont selector data structure that includes a third field correspondingto a given font, a fourth field corresponding to another given font, anda fifth field corresponding to a font similar to both the given font andthe another given font. As a matter of example, the media guidanceapplication may determine, in manners described previously in relationto determining a user's preferred font, that the first user's preferredfont is “Courier New” and the second user's preferred font is “Times NewRoman.” The media guidance application may use a Boolean comparisonfunction to determine whether a unique identifier for “Courier New” fontmatches a unique identifier for “Times New Roman.” The media guidanceapplication may determine that the two fonts are different uponreceiving a “false” result from the from the Boolean comparisonfunction.

The media guidance application may determine, based on entries in thefont selector data structure, whether there exists a third font that issimilar to both the first font and the second font. For example, themedia guidance application may query the font selector data structurefor an entry that has a third field value of the first font and a fourthfield value of the second font to determine whether the third fontexists. As an illustrative example, the media guidance application mayuse SQL SELECT command (e.g., SELECT*FROM “font selector data structure”WHERE (“third field value”=“Courier New”) AND (“fourth fieldvalue”=“Times New Roman”) to perform the query. The media guidanceapplication may determine that the third font exists upon receiving apositive query result. The query result may return a unique identifiercorresponding to an entry associated with both the first font and thesecond font, a pointer or link to an entry associated with both thefirst font and the second font, or an entry associated with both thefirst font and the second font itself The media guidance application mayretrieve the value corresponding to the fifth field in an entryassociated with both the first font and the second font to determine thethird font. For example, the media guidance application may determine,based on an entry in the font selector data structure, that the “Arial”font is similar to both the “Courier New” and “Times New Roman” fonts.The media guidance application may, in response to determining that thethird font exists, generate for display the subtitles in the first sizeand in the third font. For example, the media guidance application maydisplay the subtitles on the television with a size of two hundredpoints and in the “Arial” font.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may retrieve aspecific file in order to display the subtitles in another font that issimilar to both of the fonts that the first user and the second userprefer. Specifically, the media guidance application may determine,based on accessing a system requirements data structure associated withthe third font, a file required to display the third font. For example,the media guidance application may access a system requirements datastructure associated with “Arial” font and determine that an “Arial”font package is required in order to display the “Arial” font. The mediaguidance application may determine, based on accessing a systemcharacteristics data structure associated with the first user equipmentdevice, that the first user equipment device is not associated with thefile required to display the third font. For example, the media guidanceapplication may access a system characteristics data structureassociated with the television and query for an “Arial” font package.The media guidance application may determine, based on receiving a nullquery result, that the television is not associated with the “Arial”font package.

The media guidance application may transmit, to a remote server, arequest for the file required to display the third font. For example,the media guidance application may transmit, using a suitablecommunication protocol, a request to a font library remote server forthe “Arial” font package. The media guidance application may receive, atthe first user equipment device, the file required to display the thirdfont. For example, the media guidance application may receive a pointeror link to the “Arial” font package. The media guidance application mayretrieve the “Arial” font package using the pointer or the link andstore it at the television. The media guidance application may,alternatively, receive the “Arial” font package itself from the fontlibrary remote server. The media guidance application may generate fordisplay, based on the file required to display the third font, thesubtitles in the third font. The media guidance application may display,using the “Arial” font package, the subtitles on the television in the“Arial” font.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may display thesubtitles in another font that is similar to both the fonts that thefirst user and the second user prefer upon determining that the primarydevice supports the display of the another font. Specifically, the mediaguidance application may determine, based on accessing a systemrequirements data structure associated with the third font, a systemfeature required to display the third font. System feature, as usedherein, is defined to mean a technical characteristic associated with auser equipment device. For example, a system feature of a user equipmentdevice may be, but is not limited to, processing power, operatingsystem, display, network connectivity, and memory of the user equipmentdevice. For example, the media guidance application may access a systemrequirements data structure associated with “Arial” font and determinethat a specific operating system (e.g., macintosh operating system) isrequired in order to display the “Arial” font.

The media guidance application may determine, based on accessing asystem characteristics data structure associated with the first userequipment device, whether the first user equipment device is compatiblewith the system feature required to display the third font. For example,the media guidance application may access a system characteristics datastructure associated with the television to retrieve an operating systemthat is associated with the television (e.g., macintosh operatingsystem). In some embodiments, the media guidance application maydetermine, based on the system feature required to display the thirdfont matching a system feature associated with the first user equipmentdevice, that the first user equipment device is compatible with thesystem feature required to display the third font. The media guidanceapplication may, in response to determining that the first userequipment device is compatible with the system feature required todisplay the third font, generate for display the subtitles in the thirdfont. Following from the previous example, the media guidanceapplication may determine, because the operating system of thetelevision is the same as the operating system required to display the“Arial” font, that the operating system of the television is compatiblewith the operating system required to display the “Arial” font. Themedia guidance application may then display subtitles on the televisionin the “Arial” font.

In some embodiments, when the first user and the second user preferdifferent fonts and the subtitles are transmitted to the secondarydevice, the media guidance application may transmit the subtitles to thesecondary device in a font that is preferred by the second user. Themedia guidance application may then, in addition to changing the size ofthe subtitles on the primary device, also change the font of thesubtitles displayed on the primary to the font preferred by the firstuser. Specifically, the media guidance application may, whentransmitting the subtitles to the second user equipment device, transmitthe subtitles in the second font. The media guidance application may,when generating for display the subtitles in the second size on thefirst user equipment device, generate for display the subtitles in thefirst font. Following from the previous example, where the first user'spreferred font is “Courier New” and the second user's preferred font is“Times New Roman,” the media guidance application may transmit subtitlesto the second user's smart-phone in the “Times New Roman” font. Themedia guidance application may display, on the television, subtitleswith a size of one hundred points and in the “Courier New” font.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine thatthere is no other font that is similar to both the fonts that the firstuser and the second user prefer. The media guidance application may thendisplay the subtitles in a default font. Specifically, the mediaguidance application may, in response to determining that the third fontdoes not exist, generate for display the subtitles in the first size andin a default font. For example, the media guidance application mayquery, in manners described previously in relation to querying a fontselector data structure, the font selector data structure for a fontthat is similar to both “Courier New” and “Times New Roman.” The mediaguidance application may determine, upon receiving a null result for thequery, that there is no font similar to both “Courier New” and “TimesNew Roman.” The media guidance application may access a data structure(e.g., default system settings data structure) to retrieve a defaultfont. For example, the media guidance application may retrieve the font“Cambria” as the default font. The media guidance application maydisplay, on the television, subtitles with a size of two hundred pointsand in the “Cambria” font.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may detect, at apoint in time after size of subtitles on the primary device has beenadjusted to a size more suited for the first user, that the first userhas left the viewing area. The media guidance application may then stoptransmitting the subtitles to the secondary device and adjust the sizeof subtitles on the primary device back to the size suited for thesecond user. Specifically, the media guidance application may detectthat the first user is no longer within the viewing area associated witha first user equipment device. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine, based on data received from a camera, thatthe first user is not present within the viewing area associated withthe television. The media guidance application may, in response todetecting that the first user is no longer within the viewing area,discontinue transmission of the subtitles to the second user equipmentdevice. The media guidance application may generate for display, on thefirst user equipment device, the subtitles in the first size. Forexample, the media guidance application may stop transmitting thesubtitles to the second user's smart-phone and display the subtitles,with a size of two hundred points, on the television instead.

Conventional systems are limited to adapting subtitle size based on adistance of a user from a user equipment device. When multiple users arecollectively consuming a media asset, size of subtitles presented withthe media asset may not be suitable for all users and may be disruptiveto the media consumption experience of some user. Conventional systemsdo not use a feedback system for further adapting subtitle size based ona user's response to the subtitle size and thus may result insub-optimal media consumption experience for some users. Systems andmethods provided herein address this issue by adapting, upon determiningthat a first user is discontent with a current subtitle size on aprimary user equipment device, subtitle size on the primary device whiletransmitting the subtitles to a secondary device associated with asecond user.

It should be noted the systems and/or methods described above may beapplied to, or used in accordance with, other systems, methods and/orapparatuses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows user equipment devices for displaying subtitles, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative example of a display screen for use inaccessing media content in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 3 shows yet another illustrative example of a display screen foruse in accessing media content in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an illustrative user equipment device inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an illustrative media system in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in adjusting, whenmultiple users are collectively consuming a media asset, subtitle sizeon a first user equipment device and causing simultaneous display of thesubtitles on a second user equipment device, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure; and

FIG. 7 is another flowchart of illustrative steps involved in adjusting,when multiple users are collectively consuming a media asset, subtitlesize on a first user equipment device and causing simultaneous displayof the subtitles on a second user equipment device, in accordance withsome embodiments of the disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in determining afont for the subtitles displayed on the first user equipment, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure; and

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in substituting anaudio track associated with a media asset currently being displayed withan alternative sound track, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The described systems and methods adapt, when multiple users arecollectively consuming a media asset on a primary device, the size ofsubtitles presented on the primary device in response to determiningthat a user located closer to the primary device (i.e., first user) thana user farthest from the primary device (i.e., second user) isdiscontent with the size of the subtitles. A media guidance applicationmay determine size of subtitles to be presented with the media assetbased on distance of the second user. The media guidance application maydetermine that the first user is discontent with the size of thesubtitles. In response, the media guidance application may determinewhether there is a secondary device, associated with and in the vicinityof the second user that is suitable for displaying subtitles. If thereis such a secondary device, the media guidance application may determinewhether the second user is currently using the secondary device. Themedia guidance application, upon determining that the second user is notusing the secondary device, may present subtitles to the second user onthe secondary device. The media guidance application may then adjust thesize of the subtitles presented with the media asset on the primarydevice to a size more suited for the first user.

The media guidance application may reside on user television equipment502 (FIG. 5), user computer equipment 504 (FIG. 5), and/or wireless usercommunications device 506 (FIG. 5). In some embodiments, some or allportions of the media guidance application may be located at mediacontent source 516 (FIG. 5) and/or media guidance data source 518 (FIG.5). In some embodiments, portions of the media guidance application maybe located on each of user television equipment 502 (FIG. 5), usercomputer equipment 504 (FIG. 5), wireless user communications device 506(FIG. 5), media content source 516 (FIG. 5) and media guidance datasource 518 (FIG. 5).

FIG. 1 shows user equipment devices for displaying subtitles, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. FIG. 1 depicts user110 and user 116 collectively consuming a media asset on user equipmentdevice 102 at a time 100. The media guidance application may determinethat the viewing area associated with user equipment device 102 isviewing area 106. The media guidance application may determine, usingdata from sensor device 108, distance 112 of user 110 from userequipment device 102. The media guidance application may similarlydetermine distance 114 of user 116 from user equipment device 102. Themedia guidance application may determine size of subtitles 104 based ondistance 112 and distance 114. The media guidance application may thengenerate for display, on user equipment device 102, subtitles 104 in thedetermined size. The media guidance application may determine that user110, who is closer to the user equipment device 102, is discontent withthe size of subtitles 104. The media guidance application may determinethat user equipment device 118 is associated with user 116 and that userequipment device 118 is within viewing area 106. The media guidanceapplication may, upon determining that user 116 is currently notutilizing user equipment device 118, transmit subtitles to userequipment device 118. As depicted in FIG. 1, at time 150 later than time100, the media guidance application may adjust size of subtitles 104 toa size more suited for user 110. The media guidance application maysimultaneously display subtitles 120 on user equipment device 118.Control circuitry that executes a media guidance application on any userequipment may generate for display subtitles 104 and subtitles 120. Thefunctionality of user equipment, control circuitry, and the mediaguidance application is described in further detail below with respectto FIGS. 2-5. Control circuitry may cause subtitles 104 and subtitles120 to be presented using the one or more of the processes described inFIGS. 6-9.

The media guidance application may detect, using a first sensor device,a first user and a second user within a viewing area associated with afirst user equipment device. Sensor device may include, but it notlimited to, image capture devices, motion sensors, wireless signaldetectors, electro-magnetic ray detectors and other suitable sensordevices. A viewing area may be some pre-defined area in front of thefirst user equipment device such that anyone within the pre-defined areacan comfortably read subtitles presented in a specific size. As anillustrative example, viewing area 106 may be defined based on a viewingaxis that is perpendicular to the display screen of user equipmentdevice 102. As a matter of example, any point that is within aforty-five degree angle to the viewing axis and within ten feet from thedisplay screen of the user equipment device 102 may be included in theviewing area 106. The media guidance application may retrieve data fromsensor device 108 and analyze the data to determine a location of user110 and a location of user 116. The media guidance application maycompare locations of user 110 and user 116 with locations included inviewing area 106. The media guidance application may determine, based onlocations of user 110 and user 116 matching locations included inviewing area 106, that user 110 and user 116 are within viewing area106. For example, the media guidance application may detect, usingsensor device 108 (e.g., a camera), that user 110 and user 116 are atlocations that are within a forty-five degree angle to the viewing axisand within ten feet from the display screen of user equipment device102.

The media guidance application may determine, based on data receivedfrom the first sensor device, a first distance of the first user fromthe first user equipment device and a second distance of the second userfrom the first user equipment device, where the first distance isshorter than the second distance. The media guidance application mayretrieve, from data received from sensor device 108, location datacorresponding to user 110 (i.e., distance 112) and location datacorresponding to user 116 (i.e., distance 114). For example, the mediaguidance application may determine that distance 112 is two feet anddistance 114 is seven feet. The media guidance application may use acomparison function to determine which of distance 112 and distance 114is greater.

The media guidance application may access a subtitle adjustment datastructure, that includes a first field corresponding to a given userdistance from a given user equipment device and a second fieldcorresponding to an optimal subtitle size for the given user distance,to determine a first size for subtitles to be displayed with a mediaasset currently being displayed on user equipment device. As anillustrative example, the subtitle adjustment data structure may be asubtitle adjustment database. The media guidance application may query,using database management languages such as SQL, JAPQL, CODASYL oranother suitable language, the subtitle adjustment database for an entrythat is associated with a first field value of distance 114 (e.g., sevenfeet). The media guidance application may retrieve the valuecorresponding to the second field of the entry to determine the optimalsubtitle size for distance 114 (e.g., seven feet). For example, themedia guidance application may determine that the optimal subtitle sizefor distance 114 (e.g., seven feet) is two hundred points. In someembodiments, the subtitle adjustment data structure may be othersuitable data storage structures (e.g., linked lists, arrays) withoutdeparting from the scope of this invention.

The media guidance application may generate for display, on the firstuser equipment device, the subtitles in the first size. For example, themedia guidance application may generate subtitles 104 with a size of twohundred points on user equipment device 102 (e.g., television). Themedia guidance application may determine that the first user isdiscontent with the first size. For example, the media guidanceapplication may monitor indicators of response to an event to determinethe response of the first user to the first size. Indicators of responseto an event can be, but are not limited to, actions associated with theevent (e.g., trying to decrease subtitle size, making the display windowbigger and other suitable actions), user's activity during the event(e.g., user's social media activity, user's movements, and othersuitable activity) and user's physiological and emotional responses(e.g., user's heart rate, facial expressions and other responses). Themedia guidance application may access a variety of monitoring devices(e.g., image and video capture devices, motion, physiological, andneurological sensors and other suitable monitoring devices) to monitorfor the indicators of response. For example, media guidance applicationmay determine, based on data retrieved from a camera and facialrecognition techniques, that the facial expression of user 110 followingthe presentation of subtitles 104 is a frown.

The media guidance application may access a data structure (e.g., alook-up table) to determine a response that corresponds to a givenindicator of response. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine that a frown corresponds to an expression of discontent. Themedia guidance application may then determine that user 110 isdiscontent with the subtitle size of two hundred points. The mediaguidance application may, in response to determining that the first useris discontent with the first size, access a user profile associated withthe second user to determine a second user equipment device associatedwith the second user that is within the viewing area. The user profileassociated with the second user may be stored locally and/or at a remotelocation accessible via a communications network. In some embodiments,the user profile associated with the second user may include informationabout both user equipment devices associated with the second user andcurrent locations of the user equipment devices associated with thesecond user. In such instances, the media guidance application maycompare a current location of a given user equipment device of the userequipment devices associated with the second user with location includedin the viewing area associated with the first user equipment device todetermine whether the given user equipment device is within the viewingarea.

In some embodiments, the user profile associated with the second usermay not include information current locations of user equipment devicesassociated with the second user. In such instances, the media guidanceapplication may use a variety of location detection techniques (e.g.,triangulation, scene analysis, proximity and other suitable locationdetection techniques) to determine a current location of the userequipment device associated with the second user. In some embodiments,the media guidance application may measure distance of a user equipmentdevice from multiple reference points to determine the exact location ofthe user equipment device. In some embodiments, the media guidanceapplication may instruct a transmitter to transmit ultra-sound or radiowaves and measure time taken to receive reflected wave at a receiver(i.e., round trip time). The media guidance application may thendetermine a distance of the user equipment device from the transmitterbased on the round trip time. In some embodiments, the media guidanceapplication may determine the current location of a user equipmentdevice based on a wireless cellular access point that the user equipmentdevice is connected to. In some embodiments, a user equipment device maytransmit (e.g., as push notification or a pull notification) its currentlocation (e.g., GPS coordinates) to a remote server. The media guidanceapplication may access the remote server to retrieve the currentlocation of the user equipment device.

As a specific example, the media guidance application may instruct aBluetooth low energy beacon to broadcast a signal over a given radiuswhere the given radius encompasses viewing area 106. User equipmentdevice 118 in the given radius may receive the signal at some signalstrength and relay information about the received signal strength to themedia guidance application. The media guidance application maydetermine, based on the signal strength received by user equipmentdevice 118 and data regarding impact of distance on signal strengthattenuation, a current location of user equipment device 118. The mediaguidance application may then compare the current location of userequipment device 118 with locations included in viewing area 106 todetermine whether user equipment device 118 is in viewing area 106. Themedia guidance application may access user 116's user profile todetermine identifier(s) of user equipment device(s) associated with user116. The media guidance application may compare an identifier associatedwith user equipment device 118 with identifier(s) of user equipmentdevice(s) associated with user 116 to determine whether user equipmentdevice 118 is associated with user 116. In some embodiments, the mediaguidance application may determine that user equipment device 118 isassociated with user 116 and located within viewing area 106 associatedwith user equipment device 102 (e.g., a television).

The media guidance application may determine, based on usage data of thesecond user equipment device, a current engagement level of the seconduser in the second user equipment device. For example, the mediaguidance application may access a data structure associated with theuser equipment device 118 (e.g., usage metrics data structure) toretrieve usage data of the user equipment device 118. The usage metricsdata structure may contain information such as, but not limited to, thenumber of applications running on the second user equipment device, thetype of applications running on the second user equipment device, thenumber of user inputs received at the second user equipment deviceduring a given period of time, the processor activity of the second userequipment device and other suitable information. Engagement level in auser equipment device, as used herein, is defined to mean a qualitativeor quantitative indicator of how much a user is utilizing the userequipment device. For example, level of engagement may be fuzzy logicvariables such as “not engaged,” “moderately engaged” and “highlyengaged.” For example, the engagement level may be a numerical value(e.g., five) on a pre-defined scale (e.g., scale ranging from zero toten where zero corresponds to no engagement and ten corresponds tomaximum engagement). As a matter of example, the media guidanceapplication may determine, based on the retrieved usage data of userequipment device 118 (e.g., smart-phone), that no application is runningon user equipment device 118. The media guidance application may accessa look-up table to determine that the engagement level that correspondsto no application running on user equipment device 118 is zero.

The media guidance application may determine, based on the currentengagement level of the second user in the second user equipment devicebeing lower than a threshold engagement level, that the second user isnot engaged in the second user equipment device. The media guidanceapplication may access a data structure (e.g., a default system settingsdata structure) to retrieve the threshold engagement level. As a matterof example, the threshold engagement level may be five. The mediaguidance application may compare, using an appropriate comparisonfunction, the threshold engagement level with the current engagementlevel of the second user in the second user equipment device todetermine which is greater. Following from the previous example, wherethe engagement level of user 116 in user equipment device 118 is zero,the media guidance application may determine that the current engagementlevel in user equipment device 118 is less than the threshold engagementlevel. The media guidance application may, in response to determiningthat the user is not engaged in the second user equipment device,transmit the subtitles to the second user equipment device. For example,the media guidance application may transmit, using a suitablecommunication network, the subtitles for the media asset currently beingpresented on user equipment device 102 to user equipment device 118. Themedia guidance application may determine, based on accessing thesubtitle adjustment data structure, a second size for subtitles to bedisplayed with the media asset currently being displayed on the firstuser equipment device. As an illustrative example, the media guidanceapplication may access the subtitle adjustment data structure anddetermine that a subtitle size of hundred points corresponds to distance112 (e.g., two feet). The media guidance application may generate fordisplay, on the first user equipment device, the subtitles in the secondsize. For example, the media guidance application may generate subtitles104 with a size of one hundred points on user equipment device 102.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may, upondetermining that the second user is using the secondary device, changethe language of the audio track of the media asset to a language thatthe second user is more familiar with so that the second user is lessreliant on the subtitles. The media guidance application may thendecrease the size of the subtitles presented with the media asset on theprimary device. In some embodiments, the audio track associated with themedia asset currently being displayed on the first user equipment devicemay be in a first language and the subtitles may be in a secondlanguage. For example, the audio track associated with the media assetcurrently being consumed on user equipment device 102 may be in Spanishand the subtitles may be in English. The media guidance application may,in response to determining that the user is engaged in the second userequipment device, access the user profile associated with the seconduser to determine a preferred language associated with the second user.As a matter of example, user 116 may be actively using the web browsingapplication on user equipment device 118, and this may be reflected inthe usage metrics data structure associated with user equipment device118. The media guidance application may determine, in manners describedpreviously in relation to determining an engagement level in a userequipment device, that user 116 is engaged in user equipment device 118.In response, the media guidance application may access user 116's userprofile to retrieve user 116's preferred language.

The media guidance application may determine that the preferred languageassociated with the second user is a third language, where the thirdlanguage is not the first language. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine that user 116's preferred language is French.The media guidance application may use a Boolean comparison function todetermine whether the first language and the third language are thesame. The media guidance application may determine (e.g., based onreceiving a “false” result from the Boolean comparison function) thatthe first language and the third language are different. The mediaguidance application may, in response to determining that the preferredlanguage associated with the second user is the third language,determine whether there exists an alternative audio track that isassociated with the media asset and in the third language. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may extract, using metadataextraction tools, information about audio tracks associated with a mediaasset from metadata associated with the media asset. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may query, using databasemanagement languages such as SQL, JAPQL, CODASYL or another suitablelanguage, a content listing database for a specific audio track that isassociated with the media asset. As a matter of example, the mediaguidance application may query a content listing database for a Frenchaudio track associated with the media asset currently being presented onuser equipment device 102.

The media guidance application may, in response to determining that analternative audio track that is associated with the media asset and inthe third language exists, retrieve the alternative audio track. Forexample, the media guidance application may receive a positive result tothe query for a French audio track associated with the media assetcurrently being presented on user equipment device 102. The result mayinclude a unique or specific identifier associated with the French audiotrack or a pointer or link to the French audio track which the mediaguidance application may use to retrieve the French audio track. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may receive the French audiotrack itself in response to the query. The media guidance applicationmay substitute the audio track associated with the media asset with thealternative audio track in the third language. The media guidanceapplication may substitute the Spanish audio track of the media assetcurrently being presented on user equipment device 102 with the Frenchaudio track. The media guidance application may generate forsimultaneous display with the media asset, on user equipment device 102,the subtitles in the second language and in the second size. Forexample, the media guidance application may display on user equipmentdevice 102, simultaneously with the media asset, the English subtitlesin a size of one hundred points. The media guidance application maypresent, at the first user equipment device, the audio track in thethird language simultaneously with the subtitles in the second languageand in the second size. In some embodiments, the media guidanceapplication may determine, after substituting the audio track associatedwith the media asset with the alternative audio track in the thirdlanguage, whether the first user requires the subtitles in the secondlanguage. For example, the media guidance application may access a userprofile associated with the first user to determine whether the firstuser is fluent in the third language. The media guidance applicationmay, upon determining that the first user is fluent in the thirdlanguage, refrain from presenting subtitles on the first user equipmentdevice.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may, upondetermining that the second user is using the secondary device,determine whether the second user is using the audio system associatedwith the secondary device. The media guidance application may, upondetermining that the second user is not using the audio systemassociated with the secondary device, transmit an audio track that isassociated with the media asset and in a language that the second useris more familiar with to the secondary device. The media guidanceapplication may, because the second user is less reliant on thesubtitles, adjust the size of subtitles on the primary device to a sizemore suited to the first user.

In some embodiments, the language of the subtitles may be the same asthe language of the original audio track. Specifically, the secondlanguage may be the same as the first language. For example, theoriginal soundtrack and the subtitles may both be in Spanish. In someembodiments, the language of the subtitles may the same as the languagethat the second user is more familiar with. Specifically, the secondlanguage may be the same as the third language. For example, user 116'spreferred language may be French and language of subtitles may also beFrench. In some embodiments, the language of the subtitles may bedifferent from both the language of the original audio track and thelanguage that the second user is more familiar with. Specifically, thesecond language may be different from both the first language and thethird language. Following from the previous example, the original audiotrack may be in Spanish, user 116's preferred language may be French andthe subtitles may be in English.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may, when displayingsubtitles on the primary device, determine that both the first user andthe second user prefer the same font and present the subtitles in thatfont. Specifically, the media guidance application may, when generatingfor display the subtitles in the first size on the first user equipmentdevice, determine, based on accessing a user profile associated withuser 110, a first font preferred by user 110. For example, the mediaguidance application may access a user preferences data structureassociated with user 110's user profile and retrieve user 110'spreferred font. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine that user 110's preferred font is “Courier New.” The mediaguidance application may determine, based on accessing the user profileassociated with the second user, a second font preferred by the seconduser. For example, the media guidance application may access a userpreferences data structure associated with user 116's user profile andretrieve user 116's preferred font. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine that user 116's preferred font is “CourierNew.” The media guidance application may compare the first font with thesecond font to determine whether the first font is the same as thesecond font. For example, the media guidance application may use aBoolean comparison function to determine whether a unique identifier ofthe first font matches a unique identifier of the second font. The mediaguidance application may, in response to determining that the first fontis the same as the second font, generate for display the subtitles inthe first size and in the first font. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine that the first font is the same as the secondfont upon receiving a “true” result from the Boolean comparisonfunction. The media guidance application may then display subtitles 104on user equipment device 102 with a size of two hundred points and inthe “Courier New” font.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may, when displayingsubtitles on the primary device, determine that the first user and thesecond user prefer different fonts. In such instances, the mediaguidance application may display the subtitles in another font that issimilar to the fonts that the first user and the second user prefer.Specifically, in response to determining that the first font is not thesame as the second font, the media guidance application may access afont selector data structure that includes a third field correspondingto a given font, a fourth field corresponding to another given font, anda fifth field corresponding to a font similar to both the given font andthe another given font. As a matter of example, the media guidanceapplication may determine, in manners described previously in relationto determining a user's preferred font, that user 110's preferred fontis “Courier New” and user 116's preferred font is “Times New Roman.” Themedia guidance application may use a Boolean comparison function todetermine whether a unique identifier for “Courier New” font matches aunique identifier for “Times New Roman.” The media guidance applicationmay determine that the two fonts are different upon receiving a “false”result from the from the Boolean comparison function.

The media guidance application may determine, based on entries in thefont selector data structure, whether there exists a third font that issimilar to both the first font and the second font. For example, themedia guidance application may query the font selector data structurefor an entry that has a third field value of the first font and a fourthfield value of the second font to determine whether the third fontexists. As an illustrative example, the media guidance application mayuse SQL SELECT command (e.g., SELECT*FROM “font selector data structure”WHERE (“third field value”=“Courier New”) AND (“fourth fieldvalue”=“Times New Roman”) to perform the query. The media guidanceapplication may determine that the third font exists upon receiving apositive query result. The query result may return a unique identifiercorresponding to an entry associated with the first font and the secondfont, a pointer or link to an entry associated with both the first fontand the second font, or an entry associated with both the first font andthe second font. The media guidance application may retrieve the valuecorresponding to the fifth field in an entry associated with both thefirst font and the second font to determine the third font. For example,the media guidance application may determine, based on an entry in thefont selector data structure, that the “Arial” font is similar to boththe “Courier New” and “Times New Roman” fonts. The media guidanceapplication may, in response to determining that the third font exists,generate for display subtitles in the first size and in the third font.For example, the media guidance application may display subtitles 104 onuser equipment device 102 with a size of two hundred points and in the“Arial” font.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may retrieve aspecific file in order to display the subtitles in another font that issimilar to both of the fonts that the first user and the second userprefer. Specifically, the media guidance application may determine,based on accessing a system requirements data structure associated withthe third font, a file required to display the third font. For example,the media guidance application may access a system requirements datastructure associated with “Arial” font and determine that an “Arial”font package is required in order to display the “Arial” font. The mediaguidance application may determine, based on accessing a systemcharacteristics data structure associated with the first user equipmentdevice, that user equipment device 102 is not associated with the filerequired to display the third font. For example, the media guidanceapplication may access a system characteristics data structureassociated with user equipment device 102 and query for an “Arial” fontpackage. The media guidance application may determine, based onreceiving a null query result, that user equipment device 102 is notassociated with the “Arial” font package.

The media guidance application may transmit, to a remote server, arequest for the file required to display the third font. For example,the media guidance application may transmit, using a suitablecommunication network, a request to a font library remote server for the“Arial” font package. The media guidance application may receive, at thefirst user equipment device, the file required to display the thirdfont. For example, the media guidance application may receive a pointeror link to the “Arial” font package. The media guidance application mayretrieve the “Arial” font package using the pointer or the link andstore it at user equipment device 102. The media guidance applicationmay, alternatively, receive the “Arial” font package itself from thefont library remote server. The media guidance application may generatefor display, based on the file required to display the third font, thesubtitles in the third font. For example, the media guidance applicationmay display, using the “Arial” font package, subtitles 104 on userequipment device 102 in the “Arial” font.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may display thesubtitles in another font that is similar to both of the fonts that thefirst user and the second user prefer upon determining that the primarydevice supports the display of the another font. Specifically, the mediaguidance application may determine, based on accessing a systemrequirements data structure associated with the third font, a systemfeature required to display the third font. System feature, as usedherein, is defined to mean a technical characteristic associated with auser equipment device. For example, a system feature of a user equipmentdevice may be, but is not limited to, processing power, operatingsystem, display, network connectivity, and memory of the user equipmentdevice. For example, the media guidance application may access a systemrequirements data structure associated with “Arial” font and determinethat a specific operating system (e.g., macintosh operating system) isrequired to display the “Arial” font.

The media guidance application may determine, based on accessing asystem characteristics data structure associated with the first userequipment device, whether the first user equipment device is compatiblewith the system feature required to display the third font. For example,the media guidance application may access a system characteristics datastructure associated with user equipment device 102 to retrieve anoperating system that is associated with user equipment device 102(e.g., macintosh operating system). In some embodiments, the mediaguidance application may determine, based on the system feature requiredto display the third font matching a system feature associated with thefirst user equipment device, that the first user equipment device iscompatible with the system feature required to display the third font.The media guidance application may, in response to determining that thefirst user equipment device is compatible with the system featurerequired to display the third font, generate for display the subtitlesin the third font. Following from the previous example, the mediaguidance application may determine, because the operating system of userequipment device 102 is the same as the operating system required todisplay the “Arial” font, the operating system of user equipment device102 is compatible with the operating system required to display the“Arial” font. The media guidance application may then display subtitleson user equipment device 102 in the “Arial” font.

In some embodiments, when the first user and the second user preferdifferent fonts and the subtitles are transmitted to the secondarydevice, the media guidance application may transmit the subtitles to thesecondary device in a font that is preferred by the second user. Themedia guidance application may then, in addition to changing the size ofthe subtitles on the primary device, also change the font of thesubtitles displayed on the primary to the font preferred by the firstuser. Specifically, the media guidance application may, whentransmitting the subtitles to the second user equipment device, transmitthe subtitles in the second font. The media guidance application may,when generating for display the subtitles in the second size on thefirst user equipment device, generate for display the subtitles in thefirst font. Following from the previous example, where the first user'spreferred font is “Courier New” and the second user's preferred font is“Times New Roman,” the media guidance application may transmit subtitlesto user equipment device 118 in the “Times New Roman” font. The mediaguidance application may display, on user equipment device 102,subtitles with a size of one hundred points and in the “Courier New”font.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine thatthere is no other font that is similar to both the fonts that the firstuser and the second user prefer. The media guidance application may thendisplay the subtitles in a default font. Specifically, the mediaguidance application may, in response to determining that the third fontdoes not exist, generate for display the subtitles in the first size andin a default font. For example, the media guidance application mayquery, in manners described previously in relation to querying a fontselector data structure, the font selector data structure for a fontthat is similar to both “Courier New” and “Times New Roman.” The mediaguidance application may determine, upon receiving a null result for thequery, there is no font similar both “Courier New” and “Times NewRoman.” The media guidance application may access a data structure(e.g., default system settings data structure) to retrieve a defaultfont. For example, the media guidance application may retrieve the font“Cambria” as the default font. The media guidance application maydisplay, on user equipment device 102, subtitles 104 with a size of twohundred points and in the “Cambria” font.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may detect, at apoint in time after size of subtitles on the primary device has beenadjusted to a size more suited for the first user, that the first userhas left the viewing area. The media guidance application may then stoptransmitting the subtitles to the secondary device and adjust the sizeof subtitles on the primary device back to the size suited for thesecond user. Specifically, the media guidance application may detectthat the first user is no longer within the viewing area associated witha first user equipment device. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine, based on data received from a camera, thatuser 110 is not present within viewing area 106 associated with userequipment device 102. The media guidance application may, in response todetecting that the first user is no longer within the viewing area,discontinue transmission of the subtitles to the second user equipmentdevice. The media guidance application may generate for display, on thefirst user equipment device, the subtitles in the first size. Forexample, the media guidance application may stop transmitting thesubtitles 120 to user equipment device 118 and display the subtitles104, with a size of two hundred points, on user equipment device 102instead.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may detect, at apoint in time after original audio track associated with the media assetpresented on the primary device has been substituted with an audio trackin a language preferred by the second user, that the first user has leftthe viewing area. In response, the media guidance application maysubstitute the audio track in the language preferred by the second userwith the original audio track. The media guidance application may adjustthe size of the subtitles back to a size that is suited for the seconduser. Following from the previous example, the media asset may initiallybe presented, on user equipment device 102, with Spanish audio track andsubtitles 104 in size two hundred points. The media guidance applicationmay determine that user 110 is discontent with size of subtitles 104 andin response, the media guidance application may adapt size of subtitles104 to one hundred points and substitute the Spanish audio track withthe French audio track. The media guidance application may, upondetermining that user 110 is no longer within viewing area 106,substitute the French audio track with the Spanish audio track andchange the subtitle size back to two hundred points.

The amount of content available to users in any given content deliverysystem can be substantial. Consequently, many users desire a form ofmedia guidance through an interface that allows users to efficientlynavigate content selections and easily identify content that they maydesire. An application that provides such guidance is referred to hereinas an interactive media guidance application or, sometimes, a mediaguidance application or a guidance application.

Interactive media guidance applications may take various forms dependingon the content for which they provide guidance. One typical type ofmedia guidance application is an interactive television program guide.Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to aselectronic program guides) are well-known guidance applications that,among other things, allow users to navigate among and locate many typesof content or media assets. Interactive media guidance applications maygenerate graphical user interface screens that enable a user to navigateamong, locate and select content. As referred to herein, the terms“media asset” and “content” should be understood to mean anelectronically consumable user asset, such as television programming, aswell as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (as in video-on-demand(VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming content, downloadablecontent, Webcasts, etc.), video clips, audio, content information,pictures, rotating images, documents, playlists, websites, articles,books, electronic books, blogs, advertisements, chat sessions, socialmedia, applications, games, and/or any other media or multimedia and/orcombination of the same. Guidance applications also allow users tonavigate among and locate content. As referred to herein, the term“multimedia” should be understood to mean content that utilizes at leasttwo different content forms described above, for example, text, audio,images, video, or interactivity content forms. Content may be recorded,played, displayed or accessed by user equipment devices, but can also bepart of a live performance.

The media guidance application and/or any instructions for performingany of the embodiments discussed herein may be encoded on computerreadable media. Computer readable media includes any media capable ofstoring data. The computer readable media may be transitory, including,but not limited to, propagating electrical or electromagnetic signals,or may be non-transitory including, but not limited to, volatile andnon-volatile computer memory or storage devices such as a hard disk,floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD, media cards, register memory, processorcaches, Random Access Memory (“RAM”), etc.

With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speedwireless networks, users are accessing media on user equipment deviceson which they traditionally did not. As referred to herein, the phrase“user equipment device,” “user equipment,” “user device,” “electronicdevice,” “electronic equipment,” “media equipment device,” or “mediadevice” should be understood to mean any device for accessing thecontent described above, such as a television, a Smart TV, a set-topbox, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellitetelevision, a digital storage device, a digital media receiver (DMR), adigital media adapter (DMA), a streaming media device, a DVD player, aDVD recorder, a connected DVD, a local media server, a BLU-RAY player, aBLU-RAY recorder, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), a PCmedia server, a PC media center, a hand-held computer, a stationarytelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, aportable video player, a portable music player, a portable gamingmachine, a smart-phone, or any other television equipment, computingequipment, or wireless device, and/or combination of the same. In someembodiments, the user equipment device may have a front facing screenand a rear facing screen, multiple front screens, or multiple angledscreens. In some embodiments, the user equipment device may have a frontfacing camera and/or a rear facing camera. On these user equipmentdevices, users may be able to navigate among and locate the same contentavailable through a television. Consequently, media guidance may beavailable on these devices, as well. The guidance provided may be forcontent available only through a television, for content available onlythrough one or more of other types of user equipment devices, or forcontent available both through a television and one or more of the othertypes of user equipment devices. The media guidance applications may beprovided as on-line applications (i.e., provided on a web-site), or asstand-alone applications or clients on user equipment devices. Variousdevices and platforms that may implement media guidance applications aredescribed in more detail below.

One of the functions of the media guidance application is to providemedia guidance data to users. As referred to herein, the phrase “mediaguidance data” or “guidance data” should be understood to mean any datarelated to content or data used in operating the guidance application.For example, the guidance data may include program information, guidanceapplication settings, user preferences, user profile information, medialistings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast times, broadcastchannels, titles, descriptions, ratings information (e.g., parentalcontrol ratings, critic's ratings, etc.), genre or category information,actor information, logo data for broadcasters' or providers' logos,etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition, high definition, 3D,etc.), advertisement information (e.g., text, images, media clips,etc.), on-demand information, blogs, websites, and any other type ofguidance data that is helpful for a user to navigate among and locatedesired content selections.

FIGS. 2-3 show illustrative display screens that may be used to providemedia guidance data. The display screens shown in FIGS. 2-3 may beimplemented on any suitable user equipment device or platform. While thedisplays of FIGS. 2-3 are illustrated as full screen displays, they mayalso be fully or partially overlaid over content being displayed. A usermay indicate a desire to access content information by selecting aselectable option provided in a display screen (e.g., a menu option, alistings option, an icon, a hyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicatedbutton (e.g., a GUIDE button) on a remote control or other user inputinterface or device. In response to the user's indication, the mediaguidance application may provide a display screen with media guidancedata organized in one of several ways, such as by time and channel in agrid, by time, by channel, by source, by content type, by category(e.g., movies, sports, news, children, or other categories ofprogramming), or other predefined, user-defined, or other organizationcriteria.

FIG. 2 shows illustrative grid of a program listings display 200arranged by time and channel that also enables access to different typesof content in a single display. Display 200 may include grid 202 with:(1) a column of channel/content type identifiers 204, where eachchannel/content type identifier (which is a cell in the column)identifies a different channel or content type available; and (2) a rowof time identifiers 206, where each time identifier (which is a cell inthe row) identifies a time block of programming. Grid 202 also includescells of program listings, such as program listing 208, where eachlisting provides the title of the program provided on the listing'sassociated channel and time. With a user input device, a user can selectprogram listings by moving highlight region 210. Information relating tothe program listing selected by highlight region 210 may be provided inprogram information region 212. Region 212 may include, for example, theprogram title, the program description, the time the program is provided(if applicable), the channel the program is on (if applicable), theprogram's rating, and other desired information.

In addition to providing access to linear programming (e.g., contentthat is scheduled to be transmitted to a plurality of user equipmentdevices at a predetermined time and is provided according to aschedule), the media guidance application also provides access tonon-linear programming (e.g., content accessible to a user equipmentdevice at any time and is not provided according to a schedule).Non-linear programming may include content from different contentsources including on-demand content (e.g., VOD), Internet content (e.g.,streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored content(e.g., content stored on any user equipment device described above orother storage device), or other time-independent content. On-demandcontent may include movies or any other content provided by a particularcontent provider (e.g., HBO On Demand providing “The Sopranos” and “CurbYour Enthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time WarnerCompany L. P. et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM aretrademarks owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content mayinclude web events, such as a chat session or Webcast, or contentavailable on-demand as streaming content or downloadable content throughan Internet web site or other Internet access (e.g. FTP).

Grid 202 may provide media guidance data for non-linear programmingincluding on-demand listing 214, recorded content listing 216, andInternet content listing 218. A display combining media guidance datafor content from different types of content sources is sometimesreferred to as a “mixed-media” display. Various permutations of thetypes of media guidance data that may be displayed that are differentthan display 200 may be based on user selection or guidance applicationdefinition (e.g., a display of only recorded and broadcast listings,only on-demand and broadcast listings, etc.). As illustrated, listings214, 216, and 218 are shown as spanning the entire time block displayedin grid 202 to indicate that selection of these listings may provideaccess to a display dedicated to on-demand listings, recorded listings,or Internet listings, respectively. In some embodiments, listings forthese content types may be included directly in grid 202. Additionalmedia guidance data may be displayed in response to the user selectingone of the navigational icons 220. (Pressing an arrow key on a userinput device may affect the display in a similar manner as selectingnavigational icons 220.)

Display 200 may also include video region 222, advertisement 224, andoptions region 226. Video region 222 may allow the user to view and/orpreview programs that are currently available, will be available, orwere available to the user. The content of video region 222 maycorrespond to, or be independent from, one of the listings displayed ingrid 202. Grid displays including a video region are sometimes referredto as picture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and theirfunctionalities are described in greater detail in Satterfield et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat.No. 6,239,794, issued May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entireties. PIG displays may be included inother media guidance application display screens of the embodimentsdescribed herein.

Advertisement 224 may provide an advertisement for content that,depending on a viewer's access rights (e.g., for subscriptionprogramming), is currently available for viewing, will be available forviewing in the future, or may never become available for viewing, andmay correspond to or be unrelated to one or more of the content listingsin grid 202. Advertisement 224 may also be for products or servicesrelated or unrelated to the content displayed in grid 202. Advertisement224 may be selectable and provide further information about content,provide information about a product or a service, enable purchasing ofcontent, a product, or a service, provide content relating to theadvertisement, etc. Advertisement 224 may be targeted based on a user'sprofile/preferences, monitored user activity, the type of displayprovided, or on other suitable targeted advertisement bases.

While advertisement 224 is shown as rectangular or banner shaped,advertisements may be provided in any suitable size, shape, and locationin a guidance application display. For example, advertisement 224 may beprovided as a rectangular shape that is horizontally adjacent to grid202. This is sometimes referred to as a panel advertisement. Inaddition, advertisements may be overlaid over content or a guidanceapplication display or embedded within a display. Advertisements mayalso include text, images, rotating images, video clips, or other typesof content described above. Advertisements may be stored in a userequipment device having a guidance application, in a database connectedto the user equipment, in a remote location (including streaming mediaservers), or on other storage means, or a combination of theselocations. Providing advertisements in a media guidance application isdiscussed in greater detail in, for example, Knudson et al., U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2003/0110499, filed Jan. 17, 2003; Ward, IIIet al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,997, issued Jun. 29, 2004; and Schein et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,714, issued May 14, 2002, which are herebyincorporated by reference herein in their entireties. It will beappreciated that advertisements may be included in other media guidanceapplication display screens of the embodiments described herein.

Options region 226 may allow the user to access different types ofcontent, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidanceapplication features. Options region 226 may be part of display 200 (andother display screens described herein), or may be invoked by a user byselecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated or assignablebutton on a user input device. The selectable options within optionsregion 226 may concern features related to program listings in grid 202or may include options available from a main menu display. Featuresrelated to program listings may include searching for other air times orways of receiving a program, recording a program, enabling seriesrecording of a program, setting program and/or channel as a favorite,purchasing a program, or other features. Options available from a mainmenu display may include search options, VOD options, parental controloptions, Internet options, cloud-based options, device synchronizationoptions, second screen device options, options to access various typesof media guidance data displays, options to subscribe to a premiumservice, options to edit a user's profile, options to access a browseoverlay, or other options.

The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user'spreferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user tocustomize displays and features to create a personalized “experience”with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may becreated by allowing a user to input these customizations and/or by themedia guidance application monitoring user activity to determine varioususer preferences. Users may access their personalized guidanceapplication by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to theguidance application. Customization of the media guidance applicationmay be made in accordance with a user profile. The customizations mayinclude varying presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of displays,font size of text, etc.), aspects of content listings displayed (e.g.,only HDTV or only 3D programming, user-specified broadcast channelsbased on favorite channel selections, re-ordering the display ofchannels, recommended content, etc.), desired recording features (e.g.,recording or series recordings for particular users, recording quality,etc.), parental control settings, customized presentation of Internetcontent (e.g., presentation of social media content, e-mail,electronically delivered articles, etc.) and other desiredcustomizations.

The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profileinformation or may automatically compile user profile information. Themedia guidance application may, for example, monitor the content theuser accesses and/or other interactions the user may have with theguidance application. Additionally, the media guidance application mayobtain all or part of other user profiles that are related to aparticular user (e.g., from other web sites on the Internet the useraccesses, such as www.Tivo.com, from other media guidance applicationsthe user accesses, from other interactive applications the useraccesses, from another user equipment device of the user, etc.), and/orobtain information about the user from other sources that the mediaguidance application may access. As a result, a user can be providedwith a unified guidance application experience across the user'sdifferent user equipment devices. This type of user experience isdescribed in greater detail below in connection with FIG. 5. Additionalpersonalized media guidance application features are described ingreater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005, Boyer et al., U.S. Pat. No.7,165,098, issued Jan. 16, 2007, and Ellis et al., U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2002/0174430, filed Feb. 21, 2002, which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown inFIG. 3. Video mosaic display 300 includes selectable options 302 forcontent information organized based on content type, genre, and/or otherorganization criteria. In display 300, television listings option 304 isselected, thus providing listings 306, 308, 310, and 312 as broadcastprogram listings. In display 300 the listings may provide graphicalimages including cover art, still images from the content, video clippreviews, live video from the content, or other types of content thatindicate to a user the content being described by the media guidancedata in the listing. Each of the graphical listings may also beaccompanied by text to provide further information about the contentassociated with the listing. For example, listing 308 may include morethan one portion, including media portion 314 and text portion 316.Media portion 314 and/or text portion 316 may be selectable to viewcontent in full-screen or to view information related to the contentdisplayed in media portion 314 (e.g., to view listings for the channelthat the video is displayed on).

The listings in display 300 are of different sizes (i.e., listing 306 islarger than listings 308, 310, and 312), but if desired, all thelistings may be the same size. Listings may be of different sizes orgraphically accentuated to indicate degrees of interest to the user orto emphasize certain content, as desired by the content provider orbased on user preferences. Various systems and methods for graphicallyaccentuating content listings are discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S.Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0153885, filed Nov. 12, 2009,which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Users may access content and the media guidance application (and itsdisplay screens described above and below) from one or more of theiruser equipment devices. FIG. 4 shows a generalized embodiment ofillustrative user equipment device 400. More specific implementations ofuser equipment devices are discussed below in connection with FIG. 5.User equipment device 400 may receive content and data via input/output(hereinafter “I/O”) path 402. I/O path 402 may provide content (e.g.,broadcast programming, on-demand programming, Internet content, contentavailable over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN),and/or other content) and data to control circuitry 404, which includesprocessing circuitry 406 and storage 408. Control circuitry 404 may beused to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable datausing I/O path 402. I/O path 402 may connect control circuitry 404 (andspecifically processing circuitry 406) to one or more communicationspaths (described below). I/O functions may be provided by one or more ofthese communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 4 toavoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry 404 may be based on any suitable processing circuitrysuch as processing circuitry 406. As referred to herein, processingcircuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may includea multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or anysuitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments,processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separateprocessors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same typeof processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multipledifferent processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Corei7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry 404 executesinstructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e.,storage 408). Specifically, control circuitry 404 may be instructed bythe media guidance application to perform the functions discussed aboveand below. For example, the media guidance application may provideinstructions to control circuitry 404 to generate the media guidancedisplays. In some implementations, any action performed by controlcircuitry 404 may be based on instructions received from the mediaguidance application.

In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 404 may includecommunications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidanceapplication server or other networks or servers. The instructions forcarrying out the above mentioned functionality may be stored on theguidance application server. Communications circuitry may include acable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, adigital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, Ethernet card,or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment, or anyother suitable communications circuitry. Such communications may involvethe Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths(which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 5). Inaddition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that enablespeer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communicationof user equipment devices in locations remote from each other (describedin more detail below).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage 408 thatis part of control circuitry 404. As referred to herein, the phrase“electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood tomean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, orfirmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives,optical drives, digital video disc (DVD) recorders, compact disc (CD)recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD) recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders,digital video recorders (DVR, sometimes called a personal videorecorder, or PVR), solid state devices, quantum storage devices, gamingconsoles, gaming media, or any other suitable fixed or removable storagedevices, and/or any combination of the same. Storage 408 may be used tostore various types of content described herein as well as mediaguidance data described above. Nonvolatile memory may also be used(e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-basedstorage, described in relation to FIG. 5, may be used to supplementstorage 408 or instead of storage 408.

Control circuitry 404 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog,or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided.Control circuitry 404 may also include scaler circuitry for upconvertingand downconverting content into the preferred output format of the userequipment 400. Circuitry 404 may also include digital-to-analogconverter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry forconverting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may be used by the user equipment device to receive and todisplay, to play, or to record content. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitrydescribed herein, including for example, the tuning, video generating,encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaler, and analog/digitalcircuitry, may be implemented using software running on one or moregeneral purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may beprovided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and recordfunctions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording,etc.). If storage 408 is provided as a separate device from userequipment 400, the tuning and encoding circuitry (including multipletuners) may be associated with storage 408.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry 404 using user inputinterface 410. User input interface 410 may be any suitable userinterface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touchpad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, or other user input interfaces. Display 412 may be providedas a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of userequipment device 400. For example, display 412 may be a touchscreen ortouch-sensitive display. In such circumstances, user input interface 410may be integrated with or combined with display 412. Display 412 may beone or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD)for a mobile device, amorphous silicon display, low temperature polysilicon display, electronic ink display, electrophoretic display, activematrix display, electro-wetting display, electrofluidic display, cathoderay tube display, light-emitting diode display, electroluminescentdisplay, plasma display panel, high-performance addressing display,thin-film transistor display, organic light-emitting diode display,surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED), laser television,carbon nanotubes, quantum dot display, interferometric modulatordisplay, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visual images.In some embodiments, display 412 may be HDTV-capable. In someembodiments, display 412 may be a 3D display, and the interactive mediaguidance application and any suitable content may be displayed in 3D. Avideo card or graphics card may generate the output to the display 412.The video card may offer various functions such as accelerated renderingof 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or theability to connect multiple monitors. The video card may be anyprocessing circuitry described above in relation to control circuitry404. The video card may be integrated with the control circuitry 404.Speakers 414 may be provided as integrated with other elements of userequipment device 400 or may be stand-alone units. The audio component ofvideos and other content displayed on display 412 may be played throughspeakers 414. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to areceiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers414.

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone applicationwholly-implemented on user equipment device 400. In such an approach,instructions of the application are stored locally (e.g., in storage408), and data for use by the application is downloaded on a periodicbasis (e.g., from an out-of-band feed, from an Internet resource, orusing another suitable approach). Control circuitry 404 may retrieveinstructions of the application from storage 408 and process theinstructions to generate any of the displays discussed herein. Based onthe processed instructions, control circuitry 404 may determine whataction to perform when input is received from input interface 410. Forexample, movement of a cursor on a display up/down may be indicated bythe processed instructions when input interface 410 indicates that anup/down button was selected.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is a client-serverbased application. Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented onuser equipment device 400 is retrieved on-demand by issuing requests toa server remote to the user equipment device 400. In one example of aclient-server based guidance application, control circuitry 404 runs aweb browser that interprets web pages provided by a remote server. Forexample, the remote server may store the instructions for theapplication in a storage device. The remote server may process thestored instructions using circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 404) andgenerate the displays discussed above and below. The client device mayreceive the displays generated by the remote server and may display thecontent of the displays locally on equipment device 400. This way, theprocessing of the instructions is performed remotely by the server whilethe resulting displays are provided locally on equipment device 400.Equipment device 400 may receive inputs from the user via inputinterface 410 and transmit those inputs to the remote server forprocessing and generating the corresponding displays. For example,equipment device 400 may transmit a communication to the remote serverindicating that an up/down button was selected via input interface 410.The remote server may process instructions in accordance with that inputand generate a display of the application corresponding to the input(e.g., a display that moves a cursor up/down). The generated display isthen transmitted to equipment device 400 for presentation to the user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is downloaded andinterpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine (runby control circuitry 404). In some embodiments, the guidance applicationmay be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received bycontrol circuitry 404 as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by auser agent running on control circuitry 404. For example, the guidanceapplication may be an EBIF application. In some embodiments, theguidance application may be defined by a series of JAVA-based files thatare received and run by a local virtual machine or other suitablemiddleware executed by control circuitry 404. In some of suchembodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital mediaencoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encodedand transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio andvideo packets of a program.

User equipment device 400 of FIG. 4 can be implemented in system 500 ofFIG. 5 as user television equipment 502, user computer equipment 504,wireless user communications device 506, or any other type of userequipment suitable for accessing content, such as a non-portable gamingmachine. For simplicity, these devices may be referred to hereincollectively as user equipment or user equipment devices, and may besubstantially similar to user equipment devices described above. Userequipment devices, on which a media guidance application may beimplemented, may function as a standalone device or may be part of anetwork of devices. Various network configurations of devices may beimplemented and are discussed in more detail below.

A user equipment device utilizing at least some of the system featuresdescribed above in connection with FIG. 4 may not be classified solelyas user television equipment 502, user computer equipment 504, or awireless user communications device 506. For example, user televisionequipment 502 may, like some user computer equipment 504, beInternet-enabled allowing for access to Internet content, while usercomputer equipment 504 may, like some user television equipment 502,include a tuner allowing for access to television programming. The mediaguidance application may have the same layout on various different typesof user equipment or may be tailored to the display capabilities of theuser equipment. For example, on user computer equipment 504, theguidance application may be provided as a web site accessed by a webbrowser. In another example, the guidance application may be scaled downfor wireless user communications devices 506.

In system 500, there is typically more than one of each type of userequipment device but only one of each is shown in FIG. 5 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize morethan one type of user equipment device and also more than one of eachtype of user equipment device.

In some embodiments, a user equipment device (e.g., user televisionequipment 502, user computer equipment 504, wireless user communicationsdevice 506) may be referred to as a “second screen device.” For example,a second screen device may supplement content presented on a first userequipment device. The content presented on the second screen device maybe any suitable content that supplements the content presented on thefirst device. In some embodiments, the second screen device provides aninterface for adjusting settings and display preferences of the firstdevice. In some embodiments, the second screen device is configured forinteracting with other second screen devices or for interacting with asocial network. The second screen device can be located in the same roomas the first device, a different room from the first device but in thesame house or building, or in a different building from the firstdevice.

The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent mediaguidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices.Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and programfavorites, programming preferences that the guidance applicationutilizes to make programming recommendations, display preferences, andother desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channelas a favorite on, for example, the web site www.Tivo.com on theirpersonal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as afavorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipmentand user computer equipment) as well as the user's mobile devices, ifdesired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device can changethe guidance experience on another user equipment device, regardless ofwhether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device.In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user,as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network 514.Namely, user television equipment 502, user computer equipment 504, andwireless user communications device 506 are coupled to communicationsnetwork 514 via communications paths 508, 510, and 512, respectively.Communications network 514 may be one or more networks including theInternet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network (e.g., a4G or LTE network), cable network, public switched telephone network, orother types of communications network or combinations of communicationsnetworks. Paths 508, 510, and 512 may separately or together include oneor more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-opticpath, a cable path, a path that supports Internet communications (e.g.,IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wirelesssignals), or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path orcombination of such paths. Path 512 is drawn with dotted lines toindicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 5 it is awireless path and paths 508 and 510 are drawn as solid lines to indicatethey are wired paths (although these paths may be wireless paths, ifdesired). Communications with the user equipment devices may be providedby one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a singlepath in FIG. 5 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipmentdevices, these devices may communicate directly with each other viacommunication paths, such as those described above in connection withpaths 508, 510, and 512, as well as other short-range point-to-pointcommunication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wirelesspaths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or othershort-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is acertification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipmentdevices may also communicate with each other directly through anindirect path via communications network 514.

System 500 includes content source 516 and media guidance data source518 coupled to communications network 514 via communication paths 520and 522, respectively. Paths 520 and 522 may include any of thecommunication paths described above in connection with paths 508, 510,and 512. Communications with the content source 516 and media guidancedata source 518 may be exchanged over one or more communications paths,but are shown as a single path in FIG. 5 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of contentsource 516 and media guidance data source 518, but only one of each isshown in FIG. 5 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The differenttypes of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, contentsource 516 and media guidance data source 518 may be integrated as onesource device. Although communications between sources 516 and 518 withuser equipment devices 502, 504, and 506 are shown as throughcommunications network 514, in some embodiments, sources 516 and 518 maycommunicate directly with user equipment devices 502, 504, and 506 viacommunication paths (not shown) such as those described above inconnection with paths 508, 510, and 512.

Content source 516 may include one or more types of content distributionequipment including a television distribution facility, cable systemheadend, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g.,television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediatedistribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demandmedia servers, and other content providers. NBC is a trademark owned bythe National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by theAmerican Broadcasting Company, Inc., and HBO is a trademark owned by theHome Box Office, Inc. Content source 516 may be the originator ofcontent (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.) ormay not be the originator of content (e.g., an on-demand contentprovider, an Internet provider of content of broadcast programs fordownloading, etc.). Content source 516 may include cable sources,satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internet providers,over-the-top content providers, or other providers of content. Contentsource 516 may also include a remote media server used to storedifferent types of content (including video content selected by a user),in a location remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems andmethods for remote storage of content, and providing remotely storedcontent to user equipment are discussed in greater detail in connectionwith Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,892, issued Jul. 20, 2010, whichis hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Media guidance data source 518 may provide media guidance data, such asthe media guidance data described above. Media guidance data may beprovided to the user equipment devices using any suitable approach. Insome embodiments, the guidance application may be a stand-aloneinteractive television program guide that receives program guide datavia a data feed (e.g., a continuous feed or trickle feed). Programschedule data and other guidance data may be provided to the userequipment on a television channel sideband, using an in-band digitalsignal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitabledata transmission technique. Program schedule data and other mediaguidance data may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog ordigital television channels.

In some embodiments, guidance data from media guidance data source 518may be provided to users' equipment using a client-server approach. Forexample, a user equipment device may pull media guidance data from aserver, or a server may push media guidance data to a user equipmentdevice. In some embodiments, a guidance application client residing onthe user's equipment may initiate sessions with source 518 to obtainguidance data when needed, e.g., when the guidance data is out of dateor when the user equipment device receives a request from the user toreceive data. Media guidance may be provided to the user equipment withany suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, a user-specifiedperiod of time, a system-specified period of time, in response to arequest from user equipment, etc.). Media guidance data source 518 mayprovide user equipment devices 502, 504, and 506 the media guidanceapplication itself or software updates for the media guidanceapplication.

In some embodiments, the media guidance data may include viewer data.For example, the viewer data may include current and/or historical useractivity information (e.g., what content the user typically watches,what times of day the user watches content, whether the user interactswith a social network, at what times the user interacts with a socialnetwork to post information, what types of content the user typicallywatches (e.g., pay TV or free TV), mood, brain activity information,etc.). The media guidance data may also include subscription data. Forexample, the subscription data may identify to which sources or servicesa given user subscribes and/or to which sources or services the givenuser has previously subscribed but later terminated access (e.g.,whether the user subscribes to premium channels, whether the user hasadded a premium level of services, whether the user has increasedInternet speed). In some embodiments, the viewer data and/or thesubscription data may identify patterns of a given user for a period ofmore than one year. The media guidance data may include a model (e.g., asurvivor model) used for generating a score that indicates a likelihooda given user will terminate access to a service/source. For example, themedia guidance application may process the viewer data with thesubscription data using the model to generate a value or score thatindicates a likelihood of whether the given user will terminate accessto a particular service or source. In particular, a higher score mayindicate a higher level of confidence that the user will terminateaccess to a particular service or source. Based on the score, the mediaguidance application may generate promotions and advertisements thatentice the user to keep the particular service or source indicated bythe score as one to which the user will likely terminate access.

Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-aloneapplications implemented on user equipment devices. For example, themedia guidance application may be implemented as software or a set ofexecutable instructions which may be stored in storage 408, and executedby control circuitry 404 of a user equipment device 400. In someembodiments, media guidance applications may be client-serverapplications where only a client application resides on the userequipment device, and server application resides on a remote server. Forexample, media guidance applications may be implemented partially as aclient application on control circuitry 404 of user equipment device 400and partially on a remote server as a server application (e.g., mediaguidance data source 518) running on control circuitry of the remoteserver. When executed by control circuitry of the remote server (such asmedia guidance data source 518), the media guidance application mayinstruct the control circuitry to generate the guidance applicationdisplays and transmit the generated displays to the user equipmentdevices. The server application may instruct the control circuitry ofthe media guidance data source 518 to transmit data for storage on theuser equipment. The client application may instruct control circuitry ofthe receiving user equipment to generate the guidance applicationdisplays.

Content and/or media guidance data delivered to user equipment devices502, 504, and 506 may be over-the-top (OTT) content. OTT contentdelivery allows Internet-enabled user devices, including any userequipment device described above, to receive content that is transferredover the Internet, including any content described above, in addition tocontent received over cable or satellite connections. OTT content isdelivered via an Internet connection provided by an Internet serviceprovider (ISP), but a third party distributes the content. The ISP maynot be responsible for the viewing abilities, copyrights, orredistribution of the content, and may only transfer IP packets providedby the OTT content provider. Examples of OTT content providers includeYOUTUBE, NETFLIX, and HULU, which provide audio and video via IPpackets. Youtube is a trademark owned by Google Inc., Netflix is atrademark owned by Netflix Inc., and Hulu is a trademark owned by Hulu,LLC. OTT content providers may additionally or alternatively providemedia guidance data described above. In addition to content and/or mediaguidance data, providers of OTT content can distribute media guidanceapplications (e.g., web-based applications or cloud-based applications),or the content can be displayed by media guidance applications stored onthe user equipment device.

Media guidance system 500 is intended to illustrate a number ofapproaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devicesand sources of content and guidance data may communicate with each otherfor the purpose of accessing content and providing media guidance. Theembodiments described herein may be applied in any one or a subset ofthese approaches, or in a system employing other approaches fordelivering content and providing media guidance. The following fourapproaches provide specific illustrations of the generalized example ofFIG. 5.

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each otherwithin a home network. User equipment devices can communicate with eachother directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemesdescribed above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similardevice provided on a home network, or via communications network 514.Each of the multiple individuals in a single home may operate differentuser equipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may bedesirable for various media guidance information or settings to becommunicated between the different user equipment devices. For example,it may be desirable for users to maintain consistent media guidanceapplication settings on different user equipment devices within a homenetwork, as described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. PatentPublication No. 2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types ofuser equipment devices in a home network may also communicate with eachother to transmit content. For example, a user may transmit content fromuser computer equipment to a portable video player or portable musicplayer.

In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment bywhich they access content and obtain media guidance. For example, someusers may have home networks that are accessed by in-home and mobiledevices. Users may control in-home devices via a media guidanceapplication implemented on a remote device. For example, users mayaccess an online media guidance application on a website via a personalcomputer at their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA orweb-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g.,recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidanceapplication to control the user's in-home equipment. The online guidemay control the user's equipment directly, or by communicating with amedia guidance application on the user's in-home equipment. Varioussystems and methods for user equipment devices communicating, where theuser equipment devices are in locations remote from each other, isdiscussed in, for example, Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,046,801, issuedOct. 25, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outsidea home can use their media guidance application to communicate directlywith content source 516 to access content. Specifically, within a home,users of user television equipment 502 and user computer equipment 504may access the media guidance application to navigate among and locatedesirable content. Users may also access the media guidance applicationoutside of the home using wireless user communications devices 506 tonavigate among and locate desirable content.

In a fourth approach, user equipment devices may operate in a cloudcomputing environment to access cloud services. In a cloud computingenvironment, various types of computing services for content sharing,storage or distribution (e.g., video sharing sites or social networkingsites) are provided by a collection of network-accessible computing andstorage resources, referred to as “the cloud.” For example, the cloudcan include a collection of server computing devices, which may belocated centrally or at distributed locations, that provide cloud-basedservices to various types of users and devices connected via a networksuch as the Internet via communications network 514. These cloudresources may include one or more content sources 516 and one or moremedia guidance data sources 518. In addition or in the alternative, theremote computing sites may include other user equipment devices, such asuser television equipment 502, user computer equipment 504, and wirelessuser communications device 506. For example, the other user equipmentdevices may provide access to a stored copy of a video or a streamedvideo. In such embodiments, user equipment devices may operate in apeer-to-peer manner without communicating with a central server.

The cloud provides access to services, such as content storage, contentsharing, or social networking services, among other examples, as well asaccess to any content described above, for user equipment devices.Services can be provided in the cloud through cloud computing serviceproviders, or through other providers of online services. For example,the cloud-based services can include a content storage service, acontent sharing site, a social networking site, or other services viawhich user-sourced content is distributed for viewing by others onconnected devices. These cloud-based services may allow a user equipmentdevice to store content to the cloud and to receive content from thecloud rather than storing content locally and accessing locally-storedcontent.

A user may use various content capture devices, such as camcorders,digital cameras with video mode, audio recorders, mobile phones, andhandheld computing devices, to record content. The user can uploadcontent to a content storage service on the cloud either directly, forexample, from user computer equipment 504 or wireless usercommunications device 506 having content capture feature. Alternatively,the user can first transfer the content to a user equipment device, suchas user computer equipment 504. The user equipment device storing thecontent uploads the content to the cloud using a data transmissionservice on communications network 514. In some embodiments, the userequipment device itself is a cloud resource, and other user equipmentdevices can access the content directly from the user equipment deviceon which the user stored the content.

Cloud resources may be accessed by a user equipment device using, forexample, a web browser, a media guidance application, a desktopapplication, a mobile application, and/or any combination of accessapplications of the same. The user equipment device may be a cloudclient that relies on cloud computing for application delivery, or theuser equipment device may have some functionality without access tocloud resources. For example, some applications running on the userequipment device may be cloud applications, i.e., applications deliveredas a service over the Internet, while other applications may be storedand run on the user equipment device. In some embodiments, a user devicemay receive content from multiple cloud resources simultaneously. Forexample, a user device can stream audio from one cloud resource whiledownloading content from a second cloud resource. Or a user device candownload content from multiple cloud resources for more efficientdownloading. In some embodiments, user equipment devices can use cloudresources for processing operations such as the processing operationsperformed by processing circuitry described in relation to FIG. 4.

As referred herein, the term “in response to” refers to initiated as aresult of For example, a first action being performed in response to asecond action may include interstitial steps between the first actionand the second action. As referred herein, the term “directly inresponse to” refers to caused by. For example, a first action beingperformed directly in response to a second action may not includeinterstitial steps between the first action and the second action.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in adjusting, whenmultiple users are collectively consuming a media asset, subtitle sizeon a first user equipment device and causing simultaneous display of thesubtitles on a second user equipment device, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. Process 600 may be executed by controlcircuitry 404 (FIG. 4) as instructed by the media guidance application.Control circuitry 404 may be implemented on user equipment 502, 504,and/or 506 (FIG. 5). In addition, one or more steps of process 600 maybe incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocess or embodiment.

Process 600 begins at 602 where control circuitry 404 detects, within aviewing area associated with a first user equipment device, a first userat a first distance from the first user equipment device and a seconduser at a second distance from the first user equipment device, wherethe first distance is shorter than the second distance. For example,control circuitry 404 may retrieve location data corresponding to user110 (i.e., distance 112) and location data corresponding to user 116(i.e., distance 114) from an appropriate sensor device. For example,control circuitry 404 may determine that distance 112 is two feet anddistance 114 is seven feet. Control circuitry 404 may compare distance112 and distance 114 with locations included in viewing area 106 todetermine whether distance 112 and distance 114 are included in viewingarea 106. Control circuitry 404 may use a comparison function todetermine which of distance 112 and distance 114 is greater. Process 600continues to 604 where control circuitry 404 determines, based on thesecond distance, a first size for subtitles to be displayed with a mediaasset currently being displayed on the first user equipment device. Forexample, control circuitry 404 may access a subtitle adjustment datastructure, that includes information about a given user distance from auser equipment device and an optimal subtitle size for the given userdistance, to retrieve a subtitle size associated with distance 114. Forexample, control circuitry 404 may determine that the optimal subtitlesize for distance 114 (e.g., seven feet) is two hundred points.

Process 600 continues to 606 where control circuitry 404 generates fordisplay, on the first user equipment device, the subtitles in the firstsize. For example, control circuitry 404 may generate subtitles 104 witha size of two hundred points on user equipment device 102 (e.g., usertelevision equipment 502, user computer equipment 504, wireless usercommunications device 506). Process 600 continues to 608 where controlcircuitry 404 determines that the first user is discontent with thefirst size. For example, control circuitry 404 may monitor indicators ofresponse to subtitles 104 to determine the response of user 110 to thefirst size. For example, control circuitry 404 may determine, based ondata retrieved from a camera and facial recognition techniques, that thefacial expression of user 110 following the presentation of subtitles104 is a frown. Control circuitry 404 may access a data structure,located at any of storage 408, media content source 516 and mediaguidance data source 518, to determine a response that corresponds to afrown. Control circuitry 404 may determine that a frown corresponds toan expression of discontent.

Process 600 continues to 610 where control circuitry 404, in response todetermining that the first user is discontent with the first size,determines a second user equipment device associated with the seconduser that is within the viewing area. The user profile associated withthe second user may be stored locally at storage 408 and/or at a remotelocation (e.g., media content source 516 and media guidance data source518) accessible via a communications network 514. In some embodiments,the user profile associated with the second user may include informationabout both user equipment devices associated with the second user andcurrent locations of the user equipment devices associated with thesecond user. In such instances, control circuitry 404 may compare acurrent location of a given user equipment device of the user equipmentdevices associated with the second user with locations included in theviewing area associated with the first user equipment device todetermine whether the given user equipment device is within the viewingarea. As an illustrative example, control circuitry 404 may determinethat that user equipment device 118 (e.g., a smart-phone) is associatedwith user 116 and located within viewing area 106 associated with userequipment device 102 (e.g., a television).

Process 600 continues to 612 where control circuitry 404 determineswhether the second user is engaged in the second user equipment device.For example, control circuitry 404 may access a data structureassociated with the user equipment device 118 (e.g., usage metrics datastructure located at any of storage 408, media content source 516 andmedia guidance data source 518) to retrieve usage data of the userequipment device 118. Control circuitry 404 may determine, based on theretrieved usage data of user equipment device 118, an engagement levelof user 116 in user equipment device 118. Control circuitry 404 mayaccess a data structure (e.g., a default system settings data structurelocated at any of storage 408, media content source 516 and mediaguidance data source 518) to retrieve the threshold engagement level.Control circuitry 404 may execute a Boolean comparison function todetermine whether the engagement level of user 116 in user equipmentdevice 118 exceeds the threshold engagement level.

If, at 612, control circuitry 404 determines that the second user is notengaged in the second user equipment device, process 600 continues to614. At 614, control circuitry 404 transmits the subtitles to the seconduser equipment device. For example, control circuitry 404 may transmit,via communication network 514, the subtitles for the media assetcurrently being presented on user equipment device 102 to user equipmentdevice 118. Process 600 continues to 616 where control circuitry 404determines, based on the first distance, a second size for subtitles tobe displayed with the media asset currently being displayed on the firstuser equipment device. For example, control circuitry 404 may access thesubtitle adjustment data structure and retrieve a subtitle size (e.g.,one hundred points) corresponding to distance 114. Process 600 continuesto 618 where control circuitry 404 generates for display, on the firstuser equipment device, the subtitles in the second size. For example,the media guidance application may generate subtitles 104 with a size ofone hundred points on user equipment device 102. Process 600 thencontinues to 620. Process 600 also continues to 620 if, at 612, controlcircuitry 404 determines that the second user is engaged in the seconduser equipment device. At 620, process 600 terminates.

FIG. 7 is another flowchart of illustrative steps involved in adjusting,when multiple users are collectively consuming a media asset, subtitlesize on a first user equipment device and causing simultaneous displayof the subtitles on a second user equipment device, in accordance withsome embodiments of the disclosure. Process 700 may be executed bycontrol circuitry 404 (FIG. 4) as instructed by the media guidanceapplication. Control circuitry 404 may be implemented on user equipment502, 504, and/or 506 (FIG. 5). In addition, one or more steps of process700 may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of anyother process or embodiment.

Process 700 begins at 702 where control circuitry 404 detects, using afirst sensor device, a first user and a second user within a viewingarea associated with a first user equipment device. Control circuitry404 may retrieve data from sensor device 108 and analyze the data todetermine a location of user 110 and a location of user 116. Controlcircuitry 404 may compare locations of user 110 and user 116 withlocations included in viewing area 106. The media guidance applicationmay determine, based on locations of user 110 and user 116 matchinglocations included in viewing area 106, that user 110 and user 116 arewithin viewing area 106. Process 700 continues to 704 where controlcircuitry 404 determines, based on data received from the first sensordevice, a first distance of the first user from the first user equipmentdevice and a second distance of the second user from the first userequipment device, where the first distance is shorter than the seconddistance. Control circuitry 404 may retrieve, from data received fromsensor device 108, location data corresponding to user 110 (i.e.,distance 112) and location data corresponding to user 116 (i.e.,distance 114). For example, control circuitry 404 may determine thatdistance 112 is two feet and distance 114 is seven feet. Controlcircuitry 404 may execute a comparison function to determine which ofdistance 112 and distance 114 is greater.

Process 700 continues to 706 where control circuitry 404 accesses asubtitle adjustment data structure, which includes a first fieldcorresponding to a given user distance from a given user equipmentdevice and a second field corresponding to a optimal subtitle size forthe given user distance, to determine a first size for subtitles to bedisplayed with a media asset currently being displayed on the first userequipment device. For example, control circuitry 404 may access asubtitle adjustment data structure, that includes a first fieldcorresponding to a given user distance from a given user equipmentdevice and a second field corresponding to an optimal subtitle size forthe given user distance, to determine a first size for subtitles to bedisplayed with a media asset currently being displayed on user equipmentdevice. As an illustrative example, the subtitle adjustment datastructure may be a subtitle adjustment database. Control circuitry 404may query, using database management languages such as SQL, JAPQL,CODASYL or another suitable language, the subtitle adjustment databasefor an entry that is associated with a first field value of distance 114(e.g., seven feet). Control circuitry 404 may retrieve the valuecorresponding to the second field of the entry to determine the optimalsubtitle size for distance 114 (e.g., seven feet). For example, controlcircuitry 404 may determine that the optimal subtitle size for distance114 (e.g., seven feet) is two hundred points.

Process 700 continues to 708 where control circuitry 404 generates fordisplay, on the first user equipment device, the subtitles in the firstsize. For example, the media guidance application may generate subtitles104 with a size of two hundred points on user equipment device 102.Process 700 continues to 710 where control circuitry 404 determines thatthe first user is discontent with the first size. For example, controlcircuitry 404 may monitor indicators of response to subtitles 104 todetermine the response of user 110 to the first size. For example,control circuitry 404 may determine, based on data retrieved from acamera and facial recognition techniques, that facial expression of user110 following the presentation of subtitles 104 is a frown. Controlcircuitry 404 may access a data structure, located at any of storage408, media content source 516 and media guidance data source 518, todetermine a response that corresponds to a frown. Control circuitry 404may determine that a frown corresponds to an expression of discontent.

Process 700 continues to 712 where control circuitry 404, in response todetermining that the first user is discontent with the first size,accesses a user profile associated with the second user to determine asecond user equipment device associated with the second user that iswithin the viewing area. As an illustrative example, control circuitry404 may instruct a Bluetooth low energy beacon to broadcast a signalover a given radius where the given radius encompasses viewing area 106.User equipment device 118 in the given radius may receive the signal atsome signal strength and relay information about the received signalstrength to the media guidance application. Control circuitry 404 maydetermine, based on the signal strength received by user equipmentdevice 118 and data regarding impact of distance on signal strengthattenuation, a current location of user equipment device 118. Controlcircuitry 404 may then compare the current location of user equipmentdevice 118 with locations included in viewing area 106 to determinewhether user equipment device 118 is in viewing area 106. Controlcircuitry 404 may access user 116's user profile to determineidentifier(s) of user equipment device(s) associated with user 116.Control circuitry 404 may compare an identifier associated with userequipment device 118 with identifier(s) of user equipment device(s)associated with user 116 to determine whether user equipment device 118is associated with user 116. In some embodiments, control circuitry 404may determine that user equipment device 118 is associated with user 116and located within viewing area 106 associated with user equipmentdevice 102 (e.g., a television).

Process 700 continues to 714 where control circuitry 404 determines,based on usage data of the second user equipment device, a currentengagement level of the second user in the second user equipment device.For example, control circuitry 404 may access a data structureassociated with the user equipment device 118 (e.g., a usage metricsdata structure located at any of storage 408, media content source 516and media guidance data source 518) to retrieve usage data of the userequipment device 118. Control circuitry 404 may determine, based on theretrieved usage data of user equipment device 118, an engagement levelof user 116 in user equipment device 118. As a matter of example,control circuitry 404 may determine, based on the retrieved usage dataof user equipment device 118, that no application is running on userequipment device 118. Control circuitry 404 may access a look-up tableto determine that the engagement level that corresponds to noapplication running on user equipment device 118 is zero.

Process 700 continues to 716 where control circuitry 404 determines,based on the current engagement level of the second user in the seconduser equipment device being lower than a threshold engagement level,that the second user is not engaged in the second user equipment device.For example, control circuitry 404 may access a data structure (e.g., adefault system settings data structure) to retrieve the thresholdengagement level. As a matter of example, the threshold engagement levelmay be five. Control circuitry 404 may execute a comparison function todetermine whether the current engagement level of the second user in thesecond user equipment device exceeds the threshold engagement level.Following from the previous example, where the engagement level of user116 in user equipment device 118 is zero, control circuitry 404 maydetermine that the current engagement level in user equipment device 118is less than the threshold engagement level.

Process 700 continues to 718 where control circuitry 404, in response todetermining that the user is not engaged in the second user equipmentdevice, transmits the subtitles to the second user equipment device. Forexample, control circuitry 404 may transmit, via communication network514, the subtitles for the media asset currently being presented on userequipment device 102 to user equipment device 118. Process 700 continuesto 720 where control circuitry 404 determines, based on accessing thesubtitle adjustment data structure, a second size for subtitles to bedisplayed with the media asset currently being displayed on the firstuser equipment device. For example, control circuitry 404 may access thesubtitle adjustment data structure and retrieve a subtitle size (e.g.,one hundred points) corresponding to distance 114. Process 700 continuesto 722 where control circuitry 404 generates for display, on the firstuser equipment device, the subtitles in the second size. For example,the media guidance application may generate subtitles 104 with a size ofone hundred points on user equipment device 102. The second size is asize that is more suited to the first user to read. The second user,located at a greater distance from the first user equipment device thanthe first user, may have difficulty reading the subtitles in the secondsize.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in determining afont for the subtitles displayed on the first user equipment, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Process 800 may beexecuted by control circuitry 404 (FIG. 4) as instructed by the mediaguidance application. Control circuitry 404 may be implemented on userequipment 502, 504, and/or 506 (FIG. 5). In addition, one or more stepsof process 800 may be incorporated into or combined with one or moresteps of any other process or embodiment.

Process 800 begins at 802 where control circuitry 404 begins a processfor generating for display, on the first user equipment device, thesubtitles in the first size. Process 800 continues to 804 where controlcircuitry 404 accesses a user profile associated with the first user todetermine a first font preferred by the first user. For example, controlcircuitry 404 may access a user preferences data structure associatedwith user 110's user profile and retrieve user 110's preferred font(e.g., “Courier New”). Process 800 continues to 806 where controlcircuitry 404 accesses a user profile associated with the second user todetermine a second font preferred by the second user. For example,control circuitry 404 may access a user preferences data structureassociated with user 116's user profile and retrieve user 116'spreferred font (e.g., Times New Roman). Process 800 continues to 808where control circuitry 404 determines whether the first font is thesame as the second font. For example, control circuitry 404 may executea Boolean comparison function to determine whether user 110's preferredfont matches user 116's preferred font.

If, at 808, control circuitry 404 determines that the first font is thesame as the second font, process 800 continues to 810. For example,control circuitry 404 may determine that user 110's preferred font isthe same as user 116's preferred font upon receiving a “true” resultfrom the Boolean comparison function. At 810, control circuitry 404generates for display the subtitles in the first size and in the firstfont. If, at 808, control circuitry 404 determines that the first fontis different from the second font, process 800 continues to 812. Forexample, control circuitry 404 may determine that the two fonts aredifferent upon receiving a “false” result from the from the Booleancomparison function.

At 812, control circuitry 404 accesses a font selector data structurethat includes a third field corresponding to a given font, a fourthfield corresponding to another given font, and a fifth fieldcorresponding to a font similar to both the given font and the anothergiven font. Process 800 continues to 814 where control circuitry 404determines whether the font selector data structure includes a thirdfont that is similar to both the first font and the second font. Forexample, control circuitry 404 may query the font selector datastructure for an entry that has a third field value of user 110'spreferred font and a fourth field value of user 116's preferred font todetermine whether the third font exists. If, at 814, control circuitry404 determines that the font selector data structure does not include athird font that is similar to both the first font and the second font,process 800 continues to 830. For example, control circuitry 404 maydetermine that the font selector data structure does not include a thirdfont that is similar to both user 110's preferred font and user 116'spreferred font upon receiving a null result to the query. At 830,control circuitry 404 generates for display the subtitles in the firstsize and in a default font. For example, control circuitry 404 mayreceive a null response to the query and continue on to 830. Controlcircuitry 404 may access a data structure (e.g., default system settingsdata structure) to retrieve a default font. For example, controlcircuitry 404 may retrieve the font “Cambria” as the default font.Control circuitry 404 may display, on user equipment device 102,subtitles 104 in the first size and in the “Cambria” font.

If, at 814, control circuitry 404 determines that the font selector datastructure includes a third font that is similar to both the first fontand the second font, process 800 continues to 816. For example, controlcircuitry 404 may receive, in response to the query, an uniqueidentifier corresponding to an entry associated with both user 110'spreferred font and user 116's preferred font. Control circuitry 404 mayretrieve the third font from the entry associated with both user 110'spreferred font and user 116's preferred font. As a matter of example,the third font may be “Arial.” At 816, control circuitry 404 determines,based on accessing a system requirements data structure associated withthe third font, a system feature required to display the third font. Forexample, control circuitry 404 may access a system requirements datastructure associated with “Arial” font and determine that a specificoperating system (e.g., a macintosh operating system) is required todisplay the “Arial” font. Process 800 continues to 818 where controlcircuitry 404 determines whether the first user equipment device iscompatible with the system feature required to display the third font.For example, control circuitry 404 may access a system characteristicsdata structure associated with user equipment device 102 to retrieve anoperating system associated with user equipment device 102 (e.g., amacintosh operating system).

If, at 818, control circuitry 404 determines that the first userequipment device is not compatible with the system feature required todisplay the third font, process 800 continues to 830. At 830, controlcircuitry 404 generates for display the subtitles in the first size andin a default font. If, at 818, control circuitry 404 determines that thefirst user equipment device is compatible with the system featurerequired to display the third font, process 800 continues to 820.Following from the previous example, control circuitry 404 maydetermine, because the operating system of user equipment device 102 isthe same as the operating system required to display the “Arial” font,the operating system of user equipment device 102 is compatible with theoperating system required to display the “Arial” font. At 820, controlcircuitry 404 determines, based on the system requirements datastructure associated with the third font, whether a file is required todisplay the third font.

If, at 820, control circuitry 404 determines that a file is required todisplay the third font, process 800 continues to 822. For example,control circuitry 404 may access a system requirements data structureassociated with “Arial” font and determine that an “Arial” font packageis required in order to display the “Arial” font. At 822, controlcircuitry 404 determines whether the first user equipment deviceassociated with the file required to display the third font. Forexample, control circuitry 404 may access system characteristics datastructure associated with user equipment device 102 and query for an“Arial” font package. If, at 822, control circuitry 404 determines thatthe first user equipment device is not associated with the file requiredto display the third font, process 800 continues to 824. For example,control circuitry 404 may determine, based on receiving a null queryresult, that user equipment device 102 is not associated with the“Arial” font package. At 824, control circuitry 404 transmits, to aremote server, a request for the file required to display the thirdfont. For example, control circuitry 404 may transmit, via communicationnetwork 514, a request to a font library remote server for the “Arial”font package.

Process 800 continues to 826 where control circuitry 404 receives, atthe first user equipment device, the file required to display the thirdfont. For example, control circuitry 404 may receive a pointer or linkto the “Arial” font package. Control circuitry 404 may retrieve the“Arial” font package using the pointer or the link and store it at userequipment device 102. Control circuitry 404 may, alternatively, receivethe “Arial” font package itself from the font library remote server.Process 800 continues to 828 where control circuitry 404 generates fordisplay the subtitles in the first size and in the third font. Process800 also continues to 828 if, at 820, control circuitry 404 determinesthat no file is required to display the third font. Process 800 alsocontinues to 828 if, at 822, control circuitry 404 determines that thefirst user equipment device is associated with the file required todisplay the third font. For example, control circuitry 404 may display,using the “Arial” font package, subtitles 104 on user equipment device102 in the “Arial” font.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in substituting anaudio track associated with a media asset currently being displayed withan alternative sound track, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. Process 900 may be executed by control circuitry 404 (FIG.4) as instructed by the media guidance application. Control circuitry404 may be implemented on user equipment 502, 504, and/or 506 (FIG. 5).In addition, one or more steps of process 900 may be incorporated intoor combined with one or more steps of any other process or embodiment.Control circuitry 404 may execute process 900 upon determining, at 612,that the second user is engaged in the second user equipment.

Process 900 begins at 902 where control circuitry 404 begins process fordetermining whether to substitute an audio track in a first languagethat is associated with the media asset currently being displayed on thefirst user equipment device with an alternative audio track in a thirdlanguage that is also associated with the media asset. For example, theaudio track in the first language may be a Spanish audio track. Process900 continues to 904 where control circuitry 404 determines that theuser is engaged in the second user equipment device. For example,control circuitry 404 may determine, in manners described previously inrelation to determining an engagement level of a user in a userequipment device, that user 116 is engaged in user equipment device 118.Process 900 continues to 906 where control circuitry 404 accesses theuser profile associated with the second user to determine a thirdlanguage that is a preferred language associated with the second user.For example, control circuitry 404 may access the user 116's userprofile to retrieve user 116's preferred language. For example, controlcircuitry 404 may determine that user 116's preferred language isFrench.

Process 900 continues 908 where control circuitry 404 determines whetherthe third language is the same as the first language. Control circuitry404 may execute a Boolean comparison function to determine whether thefirst language and the third language are the same. If, at 908, controlcircuitry 404 determines that the third language is the same as thefirst language, process 900 continues to 916. At 916, process 900terminates. For example, control circuitry 404 may receive a “true”result from the Boolean comparison function and proceed to 916. If, at908, control circuitry 404 determines that the third language is not thesame as the first language, process 900 continues to 910. For example,control circuitry 404 may receive a “false” result from the Booleancomparison function and proceed to 916. At 910, control circuitry 404determines whether the alternative audio track that is associated withthe media asset and in the third language exists. For example, controlcircuitry 404 may query media content source 516 and/or media guidancedata source 518 for a specific audio track that is associated with themedia asset. As a matter of example, control circuitry 404 may querymedia content source 516 and/or media guidance data source 518 for aFrench audio track associated with the media asset currently beingpresented on user equipment device 102.

If, at 910, control circuitry 404 determines that the alternative audiotrack that is associated with the media asset and in the third languageexists, process 900 continues to 912. At 912, control circuitry 404retrieves the alternative audio track. For example, control circuitry404 may receive a positive result to the query for a French audio trackassociated with the media asset currently being presented on userequipment device 102. The result may include a unique or specificidentifier associated with the French audio track or a pointer or linkto the French audio track which control circuitry 404 may use toretrieve the French audio track. Process 900 continues to 914 wherecontrol circuitry 404 substitutes the audio track associated with themedia asset with the alternative audio track in the third language. Forexample, control circuitry 404 may substitute the Spanish audio track ofthe media asset currently being presented on user equipment device 102with the French audio track. If, at 910, control circuitry 404determines that the alternative audio track that is associated with themedia asset and in the third language does not exist, process 900continues to 916. At 916, process 900 terminates.

It should be noted that processes 600-900 or any step thereof could beperformed on, or provided by, any of the devices shown in FIGS. 4-5. Forexample, any of processes 600-900 may be executed by control circuitry404 (FIG. 4) as instructed by the media guidance application implementedon user equipment 502, 504, and/or 506 (FIG. 5). In addition, one ormore steps of process 600-900 may be incorporated into or combined withone or more steps of any other process or embodiment.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIGS. 6-9 may beused with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, thesteps and descriptions described in relation to FIG. 6-9 may be done inalternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of thisdisclosure. For example, each of these steps may be performed in anyorder or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag orincrease the speed of the system or method.

The processes discussed above are intended to be illustrative and notlimiting. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the steps of theprocesses discussed herein may be omitted, modified, combined, and/orrearranged, and any additional steps may be performed without departingfrom the scope of the invention. More generally, the above disclosure ismeant to be exemplary and not limiting. Only the claims that follow aremeant to set bounds as to what the present invention includes.Furthermore, it should be noted that the features and limitationsdescribed in any one embodiment may be applied to any other embodimentherein, and flowcharts or examples relating to one embodiment may becombined with any other embodiment in a suitable manner, done indifferent orders, or done in parallel. In addition, the systems andmethods described herein may be performed in real time. It should alsobe noted that the systems and/or methods described above may be appliedto, or used in accordance with, other systems and/or methods.

1-51. (canceled)
 52. A method for displaying subtitles, the methodcomprising: displaying a media asset on a user equipment device;detecting at least a first user within a viewing area associated withthe user equipment device; generating for display, on the user equipmentdevice, subtitles in a first size; monitoring a plurality of actions ofthe first user during the display of the subtitles in the first size;determining, based on the plurality of actions of the first user, thatthe first user is discontent with the first size; in response todetermining that the first user is discontent with the first size,determining, a second size for subtitles to be displayed on the userequipment device; and generating for display, on the user equipmentdevice, the subtitles in the second size.
 53. The method of claim 52,wherein an audio track associated with the media asset is in a firstlanguage and the subtitles are in a second language, the method furthercomprising: determining a preferred language associated with the firstuser; determining that the preferred language is a third language,wherein the third language is not the first language; in response todetermining that the preferred language is the third language,determining whether there exists an alternative audio track that isassociated with the media asset and in the third language; in responseto determining that an alternative audio track that is associated withthe media asset and in the third language exists, retrieving thealternative audio track; substituting the audio track associated withthe media asset with the alternative audio track in the third language;and generating for simultaneous display with the media asset, on theuser equipment device, the subtitles in the second language and in thesecond size.
 54. The method of claim 52, wherein a second user isdetected within the viewing area associated with the user equipmentdevice, wherein the user equipment device is a first user equipmentdevice, the method further comprising: accessing a user profile of thesecond user to determine a second user equipment device associated withthe second user that is within the viewing area associated with thefirst user equipment device; and transmitting the subtitles to thesecond user equipment device.
 55. The method of claim 54, furthercomprising: detecting that the first user is no longer within theviewing area associated with the first user equipment device; inresponse to detecting that the first user is no longer within theviewing area, discontinuing transmission of the subtitles to the seconduser equipment device; and generating for display, on the first userequipment device, the subtitles in the first size.
 56. The method ofclaim 52, wherein a second user is detected within the viewing areaassociated with the user equipment device, and wherein generating fordisplay, on the user equipment device, the subtitles in the first sizefurther comprises: determining, based on accessing a user profileassociated with the first user, a first font preferred by the firstuser; determining, based on accessing the user profile associated withthe second user, a second font preferred by the second user; comparingthe first font with the second font to determine whether the first fontis the same as the second font; and in response to determining that thefirst font is the same as the second font, generating for display thesubtitles in the first size and in the first font.
 57. The method ofclaim 56, further comprising: in response to determining that the firstfont is not the same as the second font, accessing a font selector datastructure, that includes a third field corresponding to a given font, afourth field corresponding to another given font, and a fifth fieldcorresponding to a font similar to both the given font and the anothergiven font, to determine whether there exists a third font that issimilar to both the first font and the second font; and in response todetermining that the third font exists, generating for display thesubtitles in the first size and in the third font.
 58. The method ofclaim 57, wherein: transmitting the subtitles to the second userequipment device further comprises transmitting the subtitles in thesecond font; and generating for display, on the first user equipmentdevice, the subtitles in the second size further comprises generatingfor display the subtitles in the first font.
 59. The method of claim 57,wherein generating for display the subtitles in the third font furthercomprises: determining, based on accessing a system requirements datastructure associated with the third font, a file required to display thethird font; determining, based on accessing a system characteristicsdata structure associated with the first user equipment device, that thefirst user equipment device is not associated with the file required todisplay the third font; transmitting, to a remote server, a request forthe file required to display the third font; receiving, at the firstuser equipment device, the file required to display the third font; andgenerating for display, based on the file required to display the thirdfont, the subtitles in the third font.
 60. The method of claim 57,wherein generating for display the subtitles in the third font furthercomprises: determining, based on accessing a system requirements datastructure associated with the third font, a system feature required todisplay the third font; determining, based on accessing a systemcharacteristics data structure associated with the first user equipmentdevice, whether the first user equipment device is compatible with thesystem feature required to display the third font; and in response todetermining that that the first user equipment device is compatible withthe system feature required to display the third font, generating fordisplay the subtitles in the third font.
 61. The method of claim 57,further comprising, in response to determining that the third font doesnot exist, generating for display the subtitles in the first size and ina default font.
 62. A system for displaying subtitles, the systemcomprising: control circuitry configured to: display a media asset on auser equipment device; detect at least a first user within a viewingarea associated with the user equipment device; generate for display, onthe user equipment device, subtitles in the first size; monitor aplurality of actions of the first user during display of the subtitlesin the first size; determine, based on the plurality of actions of thefirst user, that the first user is discontent with the first size; inresponse to determining that the first user is discontent with the firstsize, determine a second size for subtitles to be displayed on the userequipment device; and generate for display, on the user equipmentdevice, the subtitles in the second size.
 63. The system of claim 62,wherein audio track associated with the media is in a first language andthe subtitles are in a second language, wherein the control circuitry isfurther configured to: determine a preferred language associated withthe first user; determine that the preferred language associated withthe first user is a third language, wherein the third language is notthe first language; in response to determining that the preferredlanguage is the third language, determine whether there exists analternative audio track that is associated with the media asset and inthe third language; in response to determining that an alternative audiotrack that is associated with the media asset and in the third languageexists, retrieve the alternative audio track; substitute the audio trackassociated with the media asset with the alternative audio track in thethird language; and generate for simultaneous display with the mediaasset, on the user equipment device, the subtitles in the secondlanguage and in the second size.
 64. The system of claim 62, wherein asecond user is detected within the viewing area associated with the userequipment device, wherein the user equipment device is a first userequipment device, and wherein the control circuitry is furtherconfigured to: access a user profile of the second user to determine asecond user equipment device associated with the second user that iswithin the viewing area associated with the first user equipment device;and transmit the subtitle to the second user equipment device.
 65. Thesystem of claim 64, wherein the control circuitry is further configuredto: detect that the first user is no longer within the viewing areaassociated with a first user equipment device; in response to detectingthat the first user is no longer within the viewing area, discontinuetransmission of the subtitles to the second user equipment device; andgenerate for display, on the first user equipment device, the subtitlesin the first size.
 66. The system of claim 62, wherein a second user isdetected within the viewing area associated with the user equipmentdevice, and wherein the control circuitry is further configured, whengenerating for display, on the first user equipment device, thesubtitles in the first size, to: determine, based on accessing a userprofile associated with the first user, a first font preferred by thefirst user; determine, based on accessing the user profile associatedwith the second user, a second font preferred by the second user;compare the first font with the second font to determine whether thefirst font is the same as the second font; and in response todetermining that the first font is the same as the second font, generatefor display the subtitles in the first size and in the first font. 67.The system of claim 66, wherein the control circuitry is furtherconfigured to: in response to determining that the first font is not thesame as the second font, access a font selector data structure, thatincludes a third field corresponding to a given font, a fourth fieldcorresponding to another given font, and a fifth field corresponding toa font similar to both the given font and the another given font, todetermine whether there exists a third font that is similar to both thefirst font and the second font; and in response to determining that thethird font exists, generate for display the subtitles in the first sizeand in the third font.
 68. The system of claim 67, wherein the controlcircuitry is further configured to: transmit the subtitles in the secondfont when transmitting the subtitles to the second user equipmentdevice; and generate for display the subtitles in the first font whengenerating for display, on the first user equipment device, thesubtitles in the second size.
 69. The system of claim 67, whereingenerating for display the subtitles in the third font further comprisesthe control circuitry configured to: determine, based on accessing asystem requirements data structure associated with the third font, afile required to display the third font; determine, based on accessing asystem characteristics data structure associated with the first userequipment device, that the first user equipment device is not associatedwith the file required to display the third font; transmit, to a remoteserver, a request for the file required to display the third font;receive, at the first user equipment device, the file required todisplay the third font; and generate for display, based on the filerequired to display the third font, the subtitles in the third font. 70.The system of claim 67, wherein the control circuitry, when generatingfor display the subtitles in the third font, is further configured to:determine, based on accessing a system requirements data structureassociated with the third font, a system feature required to display thethird font; determine, based on accessing a system characteristics datastructure associated with the first user equipment device, whether thefirst user equipment device is compatible with the system featurerequired to display the third font; and in response to determining thatthat the first user equipment device is compatible with the systemfeature required to display the third font, generate for display thesubtitles in the third font.
 71. The system of claim 67, wherein thecontrol circuitry is further configured to, in response to determiningthat the third font does not exist, generate for display the subtitlesin the first size and in a default font.